Haircut forced on Californian inmate

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Californian prison officials can cut the hair of an inmate despite his objection that to do so would violate his Native American religious beliefs, a U.S. appeals court has ruled.


Philip Henderson had maintained that cutting his hair except under extraordinary circumstances would defile the creator.


But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals backed a lower court ruling that said California Department of Corrections reasons for requiring short hair -- such as making inmates easier to detect if they try to escape -- were justified.


"We therefore affirm the district court's judgement and its conclusion that the CDC's hair length regulation is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests," the three-judge panel ruled on Thursday.