Inmate serving life sentence fights for right to keep beard

Some prison inmates spend their time behind bars fighting to get released. Inmate Duke Cranford is battling the system to keep his facial hair.

Late last month, Cranford asked the state of Nevada for the right to keep his beard. The 54-year-old Cranford, who is serving a life sentence for a 1977 murder conviction, doesn't give a reason for wanting to grow a beard but claims it's his right. Nevada inmates are allowed to keep beards, sideburns and moustaches "provided they are kept clean and neat," according to the Nevada Department of Corrections' regulations.

But here's the catch: Cranford isn't serving his jail sentence in Nevada. On Aug. 1, 1994, authorities moved Cranford to Florida. He is now serving time at the Cross City Correctional Institution in northern Florida.

According to the Florida Department of Corrections, male inmates must be clean shaven. An inmate in Florida can grow a beard if shaving "would be detrimental to the inmate's health," according to the prison's regulations. Even then, an inmate's beard must be kept closely trimmed.

On July 29, authorities ordered Cranford to shave his beard, according to prison records.

Three days later, a prison guard saw Cranford in the dining hall and noticed that he hadn't shaved his quarter-inch beard. He was charged with disobeying a direct order.

On Aug. 9, the prison system found him guilty during a disciplinary hearing and sentenced him to 15 days in "disciplinary confinement," according to the petition.

In his hand-written petition, Cranford said that since he was sentenced to serve his time in Nevada he should live by Nevada's rules, even if he's incarcerated about 2,200 miles away.

Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a spokeswoman for the Florida prison system, said that inmates who are sent from other states must abide by Florida's rules.

"Our rules say they (inmates) have to be clean shaven," she said.