By Drew Johnson
Corrections1 Editor
RICHMOND, Va. — Nearly a third of the Rastafarian inmates at the Keen Mountain Correctional Center in Virginia, who were recently removed from years-long segregation, have been returned to solitary confinement, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch report.
The inmates were removed from isolation in November of last year after spending years in segregation for refusing to cut their hair. It was at that time that the inmates were transferred to Keen Mountain.
The 31 Rastafarians, who grow their hair and beards long for religious reasons, were moved to Keen Mountain to “better manage and utilize critical bed space,” Virginia Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Taylor told the Associated Press in November.
Ten inmates have been placed back in segregation for refusing to participate in a program that would eventually require them to shave their hair and beards, according to the Times-Dispatch.
The Virginia DOC policy requires male inmates to cut their hair above their shirt collars and around their ears for health and safety reasons, the report said.