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

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

11 

Opinion of the Court 

exceptionally demanding,” and it requires the government 
to  “sho[w]  that  it  lacks  other  means  of  achieving  its  de-
sired  goal  without  imposing  a  substantial  burden  on  the
exercise of religion by the objecting part[y].”  Hobby Lobby, 
supra, at ___ (slip op., at 40).  “[I]f a less restrictive means 
is  available  for  the  Government  to  achieve  its  goals,  the
Government must use it.”  United States v. Playboy Enter­
tainment Group, Inc., 529 U. S. 803, 815 (2000).

The  Department  failed  to  establish  that  it  could  not 
satisfy  its  security  concerns  by  simply  searching  petition-
er’s  beard.  The  Department  already  searches  prisoners’ 
hair and clothing, and it presumably examines the 1⁄4-inch 
beards  of  inmates  with  dermatological  conditions.  It  has 
offered  no  sound  reason  why  hair,  clothing,  and  1⁄4-inch 
beards  can  be  searched  but  1⁄2-inch  beards  cannot.  The 
Department  suggests  that  requiring  guards  to  search  a 
prisoner’s beard would pose a risk to the physical safety of
a  guard  if  a  razor  or  needle  was  concealed  in  the  beard. 
But that is no less true for searches of hair, clothing, and 
1⁄4-inch  beards.    And  the  Department  has  failed  to  prove 
that  it  could  not  adopt  the  less  restrictive  alternative  of 
having the prisoner run a comb through his beard.  For all 
these  reasons,  the  Department’s  interest  in  eliminating
contraband cannot sustain its refusal to allow petitioner to 
grow a 1⁄2-inch beard. 

B 
The  Department  contends  that  its  grooming  policy  is
necessary to further an additional compelling interest, i.e., 
preventing prisoners from disguising their identities.  The 
Department  tells  us  that  the  no-beard  policy  allows  secu-
rity officers to identify prisoners quickly and accurately.  It 
claims that bearded inmates could shave their beards and 
change their appearance in order to enter restricted areas
within  the  prison,  to  escape,  and  to  evade  apprehension
after escaping.