Judge Declined To Halt Ban On Religious Articles In Marine Boot Camp

August 29, 2022

A federal judge on Wednesday declined to temporarily halt the Marine Corps’ ban on the Sikh turban, beard and other religious articles of faith in recruit training and certain deployment conditions.

The legal action began in April after Capt. Sukhbir Singh Toor, Jaskriat Singh, Aekash Singh and Milaap Singh Chahal sought to wear their traditional articles of faith in those instances.

The Marine Corps does not allow beards or faith articles to be worn in recruit training, except for medical condition waivers for the beard...

To read more visit Marine Corps Times.

Federal judge to decide if Sikhs can keep beards, turbans in Marine boot camp

Sikh plaintiffs have asked the court to issue an order allowing the practice immediately.

That case will now proceed unless the injunction denial is appealed.

During June oral arguments in federal court in Washington, D.C., the plaintiffs attorneys, with the with assistance from the Sikh Coalition, alongside Winston & Strawn LLP, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, BakerHostetler and the Sikh American Veterans Alliance, argued that the Corps held a double standard by allowing beards for medical conditions present primarily in the Black male population.