DENVER — A Colorado man who said he was forced to shave his beard while incarcerated for a parole violation has won a $245,000 settlement after a decade-long legal battle, resolving a First Amendment lawsuit against the state tied to his right to practice his Muslim faith.
Tajuddin Ashaheed, a devout Muslim, said a corrections officer at the Colorado Department of Corrections intake facility ordered him to shave his beard in 2016 while he was held at the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center. Ashaheed claimed officer Derrick Porcher, identified in litigation, told him he did not have a “proper Muslim beard,” despite Ashaheed’s explanation that his beard was grown for religious reasons and his file indicated he was of Islamic faith.
“Like my kufi or even a Muslim woman wearing a hijab, these are very visual symbols that a lot of people key in very quickly that identify you as a Muslim,” Ashaheed said…