By Dena Potter
Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va.— Rastafarian and other Virginia inmates who refuse to cut their hair have been moved to a maximum security prison as corrections officials continue trying to get them to comply with the state’s grooming policy.
In November, the Department of Corrections moved more than 30 prisoners who were out of compliance with the policy to Keen Mountain Correctional Center. Several of the inmates had spent more than a decade in solitary confinement for refusing to cut their hair.
Department spokesman Larry Traylor says the inmates have been moved to Wallens Ridge State Prison in far southwest Virginia.
The inmates are allowed increased privileges for working through a program, with the ultimate goal of cutting their hair or beards. Some have chosen instead to return to segregation.