Ft. Hood shooting suspect must shave -- or be shaved, judge rules

[rug]

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
September 6, 2012, 12:52 p.m.

A military judge in Texas ruled Thursday that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged in the 2009 Ft. Hood shooting rampage, must be clean-shaven before his court martial, else he will be forcibly shaved.

Army regulations ban beards, but Hasan, 41, who is still receiving military pay and benefits, objected on religious grounds, arguing that as a Muslim it would be a sin for him to shave. He appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which last week ruled that Hasan's appeal was premature because the military judge handling his case had not issued a definitive order. The court sent the case back to that judge.

Col. Gregory Gross, the military judge at Ft. Hood, issued his order Thursday after a hearing to determine whether a federal religious freedom law applied to Hasan's case. Soldiers may be granted permission to grow beards for religious reasons, and six soldiers have been allowed to do so: a rabbi, two Muslim doctors and three Sikhs, according to Army records.

But Gross ruled that the defense hadn't proved that Hasan grew a beard for sincere religious reasons, a Ft. Hood spokesman told the Los Angeles Times.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-fort-hood-nidal-hasan-beard-20120906,0,1344954.story?track=rss

[Mojorabbit]

1. What difference does it make if he is shaven or no? Weird. nt

[rug]

3. The reason is in his Petition, which was denied.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/410164-hasan-petition-aug-7.html

The relevant portion starts on page 15.

[Mojorabbit]

4. I still don't see why it matters one way or another

He will be found guilty beard or no.

[rug]

5. Frankly, I don't know why they don't consider at insanity defense.

Religious belief or no, he's gone round the bend.

I hate show trials.

[cbayer]

6. I agree. To have him stand trial seems unreasonable at this point.

[cleanhippie]

7. At what point do you think he went 'round the bend?

[rug]

8. Probably around the time he determined to commit mass murder.

Think about it.

He dedicated years to his training and to the military. He was a psychiatrist. He had a secure future after the military.

At one point he organized his life around these goals. In a flash, he committed mass murder which guaranteed his own, immediate or eventual, death. It's classic homicidal and suicidal ideation which was acted on.

You're probably thinking it was the result of eligious belief but I disagree. This type of destruction is more consistent with illness than belief. They are examing this interplay for DSM-V.

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=1109021

[catbyte]

2. Sorry, but he gave up a lot of rights when he joined the military.

If he's still in the military--which it seems as if he is--then he's SOL. Too damn bad. Why wasn't the beard an issue before the killing spree?

It sounds like he's just suing to alleviate boredom.