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By Associated press
BEEVILLE, Texas – After winning a lawsuit against the state's penitentiary system, three Indian male inmates in Texas will be allowed to grow hair as an expression of their religious beliefs.
The decision of US District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos last month only affects the three inmates of the McConnell Unit near Beeville, but their arguments could apply to future lawsuits involving one of the more than 5,000 Native American prisoners in the state, reported the Houston Chronicle.
Texas plans to appeal, according to prison spokesman Jeremy Desel.
The nearly seven-year trial of detainees against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice claimed that the spiritual beliefs of Native Americans considered hair as an extension of the soul and that hair should only be cut off in the first place. mourning. The detainees claimed that prison rules requiring men to keep their hair short or to be punished constitute an unfair violation of religious freedom under the Religious Land Use Act and persons institutionalized.
The three men have all been behind bars for decades, serving time for crimes such as murder and sexual assault. They have not faced major disciplinary offenses for years.
Raymond Cobb, a Walker County man of Native American descent who was part of the lawsuit, said he wanted to have long hair and braid them so as not to risk being rejected by his ancestors during of their "transition" after their death.
The principal plaintiff and a Cherokee man, 55-year-old Robbie Dow Goodman, said his long hair put him in touch with his creator.
"It's like the roots of a tree," he said at the trial. "It connects us."
State lawyers have argued that allowing male prisoners to have long hair hinders the identification of the inmate and may pose a suicide risk when an inmate tries to choke with her hair. Prison officials feared that detainees would be able to hide smuggling in long hair, the lawyers said.
The ministry also claimed that long hair could symbolize gang membership, harbor lice or increase the risk of overheating of inmates in uncooled units.
Safety and hygiene issues were also raised in a similar case in 2015, in which an appellate court ruled against Native American detainees in Alabama, who had fought for right to wear long hair.
"Being able to express and fully practice one's religion is a rehabilitative process and reduces the recidivism rate," said attorney Steven Messer, who represented the Texas inmates. "It's just a good policy."
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