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The following comes from Wotanging Ikche -- Native American News Volume 5, Issue 048, 29 November 1997 --------- "RE: California to Enforce Grooming Code" ---------
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 97 18:09:41 PST
ACTION ALERT!!! The California Dept. of Corrections is going to begin trying to enforce the cutting of prisoners' hair to a maximum length of 3 inches come January 1st, 1998. American Indian inmates will NOT be exempt regardless of their spiritual beliefs. Hair cuts will not be done by force, but when the inmate refuses he will be issued a first warning; the second refusal will mean a write-up and he will be placed on what is called "C" status, which means that he will only be allowed 2 hours of yard a day and no jobs; which means no half time. Consequently, many of the prisoners will parole on their max release dates after giving the California DOC years of a clean program. There is going to be lots of refusal on the part of American Indian inmates due to strong spiritual beliefs. And so there will be many of them spending a lot more time in prison than they actually need to because of an oppressive policy that violates their 1st and 14th Amendment rights, the 1978 Indian Freedom of Religion Act and basic human rights. Oppression and repression should not be acceptable behavior in America in 1997 or in any country for that matter. California DOC said in their September 12, 1997 Notice of Change to Director's Rules that they feel hair cuts will help inmates build a more positive self image. This is just simply NOT true, especially for American Indians. In fact, for these inmates it will have exactly the opposite effects. California DOC also said it is for security reasons, but the truth is that there have been less weapon related incidents in prisons in the past recent years than there used to be, and California has been allowing long hair since the mid 1970s. In fact, in one case Teterud v. Burns 522 F .2d 357 (1975), Robert Sarver, former commissioner of corrections said that the justifications for hair cuts are "penological myth". Anyhow, there is a public comment period for the public to address this issue and your words in this matter would be deeply appreciated by all American Indian prisoners in the California prisons. Please write BEFORE December 12, 1997 to:
Wendy Still, Chief
There will also be a public hearing on this matter on
December 12, 1997 at 9:00 am at
Thank you for your involvement!
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