The clash between beards grown for religious purposes and grooming standards continues to make the news. McClatchy Newspapers reported Friday that at Texas' Fort Hood, a military judge delayed the pre-trial hearing for accused mass killer Maj. Nidal Hasan because Hasan appeared in court with a full beard, grown for religious reasons. The beard violates the Army's grooming regulations, and Col. Gregory Gross said it was a disruption to court proceedings. When the hearing resumes, possibly this week, Hasan will be required to watch it on closed-circuit television outside the courtroom if he does not comply with an order to "appear with proper military grooming standards."
Meanwhile, in New York City, a Hasidic Jewish Police Academy recruit was dismissed last Friday for refusing to keep his beard, grown for religious purposes, trimmed to the 1 millimeter length permitted by police grooming rules. Fishel Litzman was only a month away from graduation, according to AP and the New York Daily News. [Thanks to Rabbi Michael Simon for this lead.]
