Grayson v. Schuller

Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendant-prison official's motion for summary judgment in section 1983 action alleging that defendant violated plaintiff-prisoner's First Amendment rights when he ordered forcible shearing of plaintiff's dreadlocks. Although defendant explained that plaintiff's dreadlocks posed security risk for prison, defendant failed to explain why it permitted Rastafarians to wear dreadlocks and not plaintiff. Also, defendant could not defend rule that only Rastafarians could wear dreadlocks since such a rule would wrongfully discriminate in favor of one religious sect over plaintiff's personal beliefs where plaintiff alleged that he held sincere belief that his membership in African Hebrew Isrealites of Jerusalem religion required that he not cut his hair.