Taylor v. Johnson

Maurice Taylor filed a civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that a Texas Department of Criminal Justice policy violates his free exercise rights under the First Amendment. The policy forbids inmates to wear beards, and Taylor alleges that his Muslim beliefs require him to wear a one-quarter-inch beard and that the policy violates his equal protection rights because the grooming policy allows beards for medical reasons but forbids them, for religious purposes.

The district court dismissed Taylor’s complaint as frivolous under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). 1 Taylor appealed, then…