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| Prisons segregate Rastafarians |
| By Richmond Times-Dispatch |
| Published: 09/12/2005 |
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At least 11 Rastafarians who refuse to cut their hair or trim their beards have apparently been held in segregation cells in Virginia facilities for nearly six years, inmates say. The inmates claim that if they comply with a 1999 inmate-grooming policy, it would violate their religious beliefs. Followers of the Rastafari movement let their hair grow in dreadlocks and also let their beards grow. The corrections policy requires that male inmates' hair be cut above the shirt collar and around the ears. Sideburns are not allowed to extend below the middle of the ear, and hair is not allowed to be more than an inch in "thickness/depth." Beards and goatees are not allowed. The Virginia Department of Corrections would not confirm or deny the claim by inmate Ivan Anthony Sparks that he and 10 other Rastafarians have been in segregation since December 1999. Prison spokesman Larry Traylor said he could not comment on the disciplinary histories of inmates. He did confirm, however, that Sparks and the other 10 inmates Sparks named are in segregation now and, therefore, cannot be interviewed. Asked how many inmates have been in segregation since 1999 because of the grooming policy, Traylor responded by e-mail: "We don't track that particular information." Traylor said that no more than 30 inmates are now in segregation for failing to comply with the grooming policy. However, Janet B. Taylor, a Rastafarian who lives in Richmond, said as many as 15 Rastafarians may have been held in segregation since the grooming policy took effect. "I communicate with 12 on a regular basis, and they're scattered throughout the correctional system," she said. Taylor said she got involved when a friend told her men were being placed in segregation for refusing hair cuts. She said some of the men were charged with failure to obey an order, while others have been charged with failure to comply with rules and regulations. Rebecca Glenberg, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said it would not surprise her if Sparks was correct, given what she called the department's inflexibility on the issue. Two of five inmates the ACLU is representing in a suit over the grooming policy have been held in segregation since 1999, she said. One of them is among the 10 others named by Sparks. In a letter to The Times-Dispatch, inmate Sparks, 54, wrote that "when the grooming policy came into effect I was the elder of the Rastafarian community at Buckingham Correctional Center. The ACLU filed a suit in 2003, arguing that the prison grooming policy violates the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which protects religious freedom. Its five clients are Rastafari or Muslim. One of them is among the 10 identified by Sparks. Glenberg said the five were picked as plaintiffs from among the inmates who first wrote the ACLU complaining about the policy. According to the department, Sparks and the 10 others he identified by name and inmate number are being held in the same eight prisons where Sparks said they are being held. Among them, the 11 have murdered three people and committed assorted robberies, abductions, firearm violations and drug crimes. They have been sentenced to a total of more than 215 years and three life sentences. Sparks is serving time for murder and a weapons offense. He said that until 2003, the 11 inmates went without any telephone or visitation privileges. They are now permitted two telephone calls a month along with noncontact visits with friends and relatives. They still cannot participate in recreational, educational or treatment programs and are not earning any so-called "good-time" parole credits, he said. The corrections department's policy also dictates that female inmates' hair "will be neatly cut and must be no longer than shoulder length. One or two braids or ponytails allowed. Hair must be kept out of the face and eyes. Bangs are permitted but must be kept trimmed above the eyebrows." However, no female inmates are in segregation for violating the grooming policy, said prison spokesman Traylor. The department says the policy was enacted, among other reasons, to help identify prisoners who could otherwise change their appearances from the mug shots taken when they first entered the system. |
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