Don’t Shoot the Sheriff: An overview of Rastafarians and the Legal System :: essays papers

Dont Shoot the Sheriff An overview of Rastafarians and the Legal SystemRastafarianism is a look of life for many it is the only way of life. Growing up under(a) a certain religious belief instills varying values and understandings into ones moral fiber. These values are what shape a humans character. In some countries, the government is trying to tell these peaceful hatful to disregard their upbringing and to conform to alien ways.Every religious religious sect has its own traditions and historical rituals that they abide to. In religions, almost everything has significance to it. And anyone concerned about the future of his/her religion, will continue to ensure that these traditions are followed, to uphold their own way of life. Now, most countries have religious innocentdom clauses in their constitutions that state that anyone living on their soil has the right to practice the religion of their choice. Now this might seem a minuscule fact for soul of a common religion, but to someone of a minority religion, this is all told the protection they have from the legal outline. This paper is only a hold of the justices and injustices that Rastafarians have faced in legal systems across the globe. Some instances a loophole for the misfortunate, others an outcry from the oppressed.Every countrys legal system has problems. Some problems are masked with legal terms. Theses are the hardest to overcome. The land of the free is what the United States is sometimes referred to as, but for some, this statement seems phonier than an Ed McMahon sweepstakes. In the U.S. case, Belgrave vs. Coughlin, an yardbird of the Sing-Sing Correctional Institution in New York, claims his religious rights were revoked. Nekyon Belgrave, a Rastafarian, says the discussion section of Correctional Services (DOCS hereinafter) denied his request to wear his religious head finishing known as a crown. A crown is a loose-knit, broadsheet hat that covers the wearers dreadlocks (Anderso n, 1). Belgraves appeal reached the Second Circuit where acting Justice Anthony A. Scaprino Jr. sent the matter back to DOCS saying they overlook their own regulations denying Belgraves request. The matter had already been solved in the causality of Benjamin vs. Coughlin, 905 F2d 571, where the Second Circuit had agreed with a lower tribunal ruling that denying a Rastafarians request to wear a crown did not break the First Amendment, ruling that is was an interest of security measure (Anderson, 2).This precedent and an August 8, 1990 memorandum stating that regulations allowed the wearing of certain head-coverings, was enough to site the matter back into the hands of the DOCS.