Can Prison Inmates Donate Their Hair?

Recently, Apple Daily exclusively reported that death-row inmate Jen-Chun Hsiao appealed for permission to grow his hair out to donate to children with cancer as an act of charity, alongside his request to purchase an inflatable doll, sparking public attention. The JRF has indeed received cases concerning requests for hair donation, and we provide further background information below:

1. Why would a death-row inmate want to donate hair?
   Indeed, some inmates wish to give back to society. General prisoners can donate their prison labor earnings, but death-row inmates cannot work in prison workshops and have no income. If they cannot donate money, what can they donate? In the past, there have been requests to donate blood and organs. However, both are currently prohibited. Therefore, upon seeing news about collecting hair for children with cancer, Jen-Chun Hsiao realized he could at least donate his hair.
   
2. What are the regulations regarding haircuts for prison inmates?
   Article 49 of the Prison Act under the chapter "Hygiene and Medical Treatment" stipulates that "inmates shall be ordered to bathe and shave their hair and beards, with the frequency determined according to the season." It does not prescribe how long hair may be kept. Going back to the legislative purpose, it is actually "hygiene." Currently, the specific restriction on hair length is provided in Article 69 of the Enforcement Rules of the Prison Act: "Male inmates shall have their hair cut twice a month, permitted to keep a crew cut of three centimeters in length, and shall shave their beards every three days. Those who keep hair and beards due to religious or lifestyle reasons without impairing hygiene may be permitted to do so. Female inmates are permitted to keep hair or braids longer than ear-length." The problem arising here is whether the enforcement rules exceed the scope of the parent act by imposing additional restrictions, including gender-based restrictions. Returning to the legislative purpose, it becomes perplexing why women keeping hair longer than ear-length poses no hygiene issues, while men doing so would?
   Additionally, people rarely notice that the aforementioned regulations target "prisoners" and do not include "death-row inmates" and "detained defendants." Currently, defendants are interpreted as having haircuts based on their willingness (though not fully implemented in practice), while the status of death-row inmates has been subject to continuous controversy. Previously, the treatment of death-row inmates in practice mutatis mutandis applied the Detention Act; now it mutatis mutandis applies the Prison Act, with appropriate relaxations.
   In other words, there is no explicit statutory provision on how long death-row inmates are allowed to grow their hair, and it is currently purely the result of practical operations.
   
3. If one person is allowed to donate hair, will prisons become unmanageable?
   In fact, growing out hair can be completely managed in accordance with the law, which brings us back to the legislative purpose of the Prison Act: "hygiene." Furthermore, taking hair donation for children with cancer as an example, there is a specific purpose for growing hair out—hair must be cut to a length of at least 15 centimeters to make a wig, so it is not a matter of letting it grow indefinitely.
   
4. Can inmates buy inflatable dolls?
   In practice, this is currently not permitted. However, inmates also have sexual needs, and the fundamental solution is to face this issue head-on rather than pretending that people enter correctional facilities and cease to have sexual desires.
   

※ This article was published in the Apple Daily on 2019/02/16