Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/13-6827_5h26.pdf
Page Number: 4.0

Cite as:  574 U. S. ____ (2015) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
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SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 13–6827 
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GREGORY HOUSTON HOLT, AKA ABDUL MAALIK
 
MUHAMMAD, PETITIONER v. RAY HOBBS,  

DIRECTOR, ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT 

OF CORRECTION, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 

APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
 

[January 20, 2015]

 JUSTICE ALITO delivered the opinion of the Court. 
Petitioner  Gregory  Holt,  also  known  as  Abdul  Maalik 
Muhammad, is an Arkansas inmate and a devout Muslim 
who wishes to grow a 1⁄2-inch beard in accordance with his 
religious  beliefs.    Petitioner’s  objection  to  shaving  his 
beard  clashes  with  the  Arkansas  Department  of  Correc-
tion’s  grooming  policy,  which  prohibits  inmates  from 
growing beards unless they have a particular dermatologi-
cal  condition.  We  hold  that  the  Department’s  policy,  as
applied  in  this  case,  violates  the  Religious  Land  Use  and
Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), 114 Stat.
803,  42  U. S. C.  §2000cc  et seq.,  which  prohibits  a  state
or local government from taking  any action  that substan-
tially burdens the religious exercise of an institutionalized
person  unless  the  government  demonstrates  that  the 
action constitutes the least restrictive means of furthering
a compelling governmental interest. 

We  conclude  in  this  case  that  the  Department’s  policy 
substantially  burdens  petitioner’s  religious  exercise.