SANTA CLARA COUNTY, California — The South Bay celebrated a bill signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The law creates a statewide policy that supporters say sets clear rules for inmates about religious headwear, clothing and grooming.
“The beard is essential to being a man, a Muslim man. It’s part of your identity, just as it is for a Muslim woman to wear the hijab, the head covering, and that’s part of her identity,” said Sajad Shakoor.
Shakoor is now known for his chain of restaurants called Falafel Corner. But years before his professional success, he was in prison.
It was religion, he says, that led to his achievements and kept him and so many others from returning to prison.
“Every study I’ve looked at has come to the same conclusion,” says Shakoor, “that the most transformative and influential event in the life of the prisoner is his religion.
But one of the biggest challenges of Shakoor’s time in prison was the restrictions on how he could express his religion.
“For example, this is a kufi,” Shakoor said, pointing to his religious headgear while talking about his time in prison. “This is something that all Muslims wear. They didn’t want us to wear it. They didn’t want us to have our beards. There were grooming standards and there were dress codes, and they were pretty strict about enforcing them.”
State Senator Dave Cortese said there were existing policies that gave inmates the right to certain religious clothing and headwear, but only in state-run facilities.
Each local jail could decide on its own policy.
But Senate Bill 309, introduced by Cortese and now signed into law, creates a broad policy on religious clothing, headwear and grooming for inmates in California.
“The U.S. Constitution has been around for a long time, and the fact that we’ve had prison and jail systems that have had policies that conflict with religious expression had to be changed,” Cortese said. “There’s no way that those civil rights, the Bill of Rights, should stop at the point of entry or booking into a jail or prison.”
Senator Cortese, Shakoor and other community leaders gathered at the Bay Area Council on American-Islamic Relations headquarters in Santa Clara on Tuesday to celebrate the bill’s signing earlier this month.
It’s a law that supporters say will benefit not only the Muslim community, but all religions.
“This is monumental for the prison system,” said Shakoor. “Imagine being able to actually practice your religion without this fear hanging over you.”