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Prohibiting Decorations on Outgoing Envelope Not Violative of RLUIPA

Article • July 15, 2009

Filed under: State Law Claims, RLUIPA, Immunity/Liability, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Religious Practices, Religious Property

Prohibiting Decorations on Outgoing Envelope Not Violative of RLUIPA by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a Texas prison policy that prohibits prisoners from drawing illustrations or messages on envelopes does not violate a prisoner’s rights. Prisoner Robert N. Smithback filed a civil rights action that claimed …

Pro Se Muslim Prisoner Reaches Religious Rights Settlement Agreement with Virginia Prison Officials

Article • June 15, 2009 • from PLN June, 2009

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Religious Diet, Denial of Religious Services

Pro Se Muslim Prisoner Reaches Religious Rights Settlement Agreement with Virginia Prison Officials by David Reutter Pro Se Muslim Prisoner Reaches Religious Rights Settlement Agreement with Virginia Prison Officials by David M. Reutter A pro se Virginia prisoner has entered into a settlement agreement with prison officials that provides him …

Ninth Circuit Remands RLUIPA Claim for Group Religious Worship in Maximum Security Jail

Article • May 15, 2009 • from PLN May, 2009

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Denial of Religious Services

Ninth Circuit Remands RLUIPA Claim for Group Religious Worship in Maximum Security Jail by Ninth Circuit Remands RLUIPA Claim for Group Religious Worship in Maximum Security Jail The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has held that under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a prisoner seeking …

$45,000 Awarded to Muslim Woman Forced to Remove Headscarf at California Jail

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Damages, Settlements, Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Municipal Liability, Religious Grooming, Religious Practices, Religious Property

$45,000 Awarded to Muslim Woman Forced to Remove Headscarf at California Jail by On October 8, 2008, the County of San Bernadino and Sheriff Gary Penrod agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) and the First Amendment. Jameelah …

Nebraska Muslim Prisoner Wins Religious Concessions

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Attorney Fees (PLRA), RLUIPA, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Religious Grooming, Religious Diet, Religious Practices

Nebraska Muslim Prisoner Wins Religious Concessions by John E Dannenberg A high-security Muslim prisoner at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution (TSCI) sued prison officials for violating basic tenets of his religion by allegedly restricting religious practices “dictated” by his beliefs. He claimed he needed daily showers, a kosher diet, and …

Sovereign Immunity Bars RFRA Damages in DC Circuit

Article • February 15, 2009

Filed under: Religious Discrimination, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, RLUIPA, Sovereign Immunity, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Religious Practices, Clergy

Sovereign Immunity Bars RFRA Damages in DC Circuit by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has affirmed a district court’s decision that sovereign immunity bars damage claims under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The court found that RFRA does not provide a clear and …

Muslim Prisoners Cannot be Forced to Handle Pork; Qualified Immunity Denied

Article • February 15, 2009

Filed under: Disciplinary Litigation, Retaliatory Discipline, RLUIPA, Qualified Immunity, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Denial of Religious Services

Muslim Prisoners Cannot be Forced to Handle Pork; Qualified Immunity Denied by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Muslim prisoner’s complaint that prison officials disciplined him for refusing to handle pork stated a claim under the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act …

Religious Sincerity, Not Necessity, Satisfies Free Exercise Claim

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Required Religious Programming, Denial of Religious Services, Religious Practices, Religious Property, Religion Defined

Religious Sincerity, Not Necessity, Satisfies Free Exercise Claim by Utah State prisoner Karl Kay appealed the dismissal of his § 1983 action for denial of religious materials, parole based due process violations and retaliation for seeking counsel. The court reversed dismissal of his religious materials denial claim, affirmed the balance …

$204,856 in Attorney’s Fees and Costs Awarded in Nebraska Kosher Diet and Muslim Prayer Case

Article • October 15, 2008 • from PLN October, 2008

Filed under: Showers, Attorney Fees (PLRA), Injunctions (PLRA), Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Religious Diet, Religious Practices

$204,856 in Attorney’s Fees and Costs Awarded in Nebraska Kosher Diet and Muslim Prayer Case by Brandon Sample $204,856 in Attorney’s Fees and Costs Awarded in Nebraska Kosher Diet and Muslim Prayer Case by Brandon Sample On May 5, 2008, Joseph F. Batallion, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court …

Segregated Massachusetts Nation of Islam Prisoners Entitled to Halal Menu and Jum’ah Prayers; $237,299.25 in Attorney Fees Awarded

Article • October 15, 2008 • from PLN October, 2008

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Food, Attorney Fees (PLRA), Injunctions (PLRA), RLUIPA, Religious Diet, Religious Practices, Religious Property

Segregated Massachusetts Nation of Islam Prisoners Entitled to Halal Menu and Jum’ah Prayers; $237,299.25 in Attorney Fees Awarded by The U.S. District Court for Massachusetts granted declaratory relief to two maximum-security Nation of Islam (NOI) prisoners who had sued for a Halal (Muslim religious dietary) menu and participation in daily …

Muslim Virginia Prisoner Entitled to 2,200 Calories During Ramadan

Article • August 15, 2008 • from PLN August, 2008

Filed under: Food, RLUIPA, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Religious Practices

Muslim Virginia Prisoner Entitled to 2,200 Calories During Ramadan by A federal district court has issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) to provide a Muslim prisoner with “food items containing 2,200 calories” daily during Ramadan, a month-long period of religious fasting. This action was brought …

Outside Spiritual Leaders Must be Allowed Access to Prisoners

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Clergy

Outside Spiritual Leaders Must be Allowed Access to Prisoners by In 2004, prisoners at the Indiana State Penitentiary were denied Moorish Science services because spiritual leaders were suspended from entering the prison. The warden said the suspension was only temporary, but wasn’t clear about what had to be done to …

OH DOC Not Required to Take Prisoners Outside of Prison for Religious Rites

Article • July 15, 2008

Filed under: Transportation, Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Religious Grooming, Religious Practices

OH DOC Not Required to Take Prisoners Outside of Prison for Religious Rites by Ralf Beasley, an Ohio state prisoner, wanted to convert to Orthodox Judaism, but to do so he would have to visit an outside synagogue to receive a ritual bath called a Mikvah. When prison officials refused …

Hudson v. Dennehy, MA, Order, Religious Rights Violation, 2008

Brief • March 5, 2008

Filed under: Religious Discrimination, RLUIPA, First Amendment, Religious Freedom

Hudson v. Dennehy, MA, Order, Religious Rights Violation, 2008 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS CIVIL ACTION NO. 01-CV-12145-RGS MAC HUDSON AND DERRICK TYLER v. KATHLEEN DENNEHY, in her official capacity as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction FINDINGS OF FACT, RULINGS OF LAW, AND ORDER AFTER A …

SJ Reversed on Massachusetts Religious Diet Claims; MA Constitution Affords Greater Protections than U.S. Constitution

Article • January 15, 2008

Filed under: Food, Civil Procedure, Injunctions, RLUIPA, Qualified Immunity, Religious Diet

SJ Reversed on Massachusetts Religious Diet Claims; MA Constitution Affords Greater Protections than U.S. Constitution by In a unanimous decision, Massachusetts' highest court reversed summary judgment on Muslim prisoners' claims that they were denied halal meat, which is required by their faith. Muslim prisoners Rashard Rasheed and Nathaniel Bilal Ahmad …

Tenth Circuit OKs First Raising Qualified Immunity on Summary Judgment

Article • January 15, 2008

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Summary Judgment, Defenses, RLUIPA, Qualified Immunity, Denial of Religious Services

Tenth Circuit OKs First Raising Qualified Immunity on Summary Judgment by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that prison officials did not waive a qualified immunity defense by failing to raise it in responsive pleadings. The district court erred in failing to address the defense in the summary judgment …

OH DOC Not Required to Take Prisoners Outside of Prison for Religious Rites

Article • January 15, 2008

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Religious Practices

OH DOC Not Required to Take Prisoners Outside of Prison for Religious Rites by Ralf Beasley, an Ohio state prisoner, wanted to convert to Orthodox Judaism, but to do so he would have to visit an outside synagogue to receive a ritual bath called a Mikvah. When prison officials refused …

Fourth Circuit Finds Virginia Prisoner’s Religious Exercise Claim Meritorious

Article • January 15, 2008 • from PLN January, 2008

Filed under: RLUIPA, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Denial of Religious Services

Fourth Circuit Finds Virginia Prisoner’s Religious Exercise Claim Meritorious by Michael Rigby Fourth Circuit Finds Virginia Prisoner's Religious Exercise Claim Meritorious by Michael Rigby The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a district court?s grant of summary judgment to prison officials who had denied a Virginia prisoner …

WI ACLU Overview of Prisoners' First Amendment Rights

Article • December 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Grooming Rules, Court Access, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, RLUIPA, Publications/Books, Sexually Explicit Materials, Mail Regulations, Due Process, Legal Mail, Attorney Visits, Access to Media, Censorship, Required Religious Programming, Religious Grooming, Religious Diet, Denial of Religious Services, Religious Practices, Religious Property

WI ACLU Overview of Prisoners' First Amendment Rights by Larry Dupuis EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN BAR ASSOCIATION Pro Bono Continuing Legal Education Program Prisoner Litigation An Overview of Prisoners' First Amendment Rights March 29, 2007 Larry Dupuis, ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation IMPORTANT NOTE: This outline was prepared in March 2007. …

California DOC Settles Federal Suit to Permit Bible Study Materials; Establishes Pilot Program For Screening Books and CDs

Article • December 15, 2007 • from PLN December, 2007

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Postage, Tapes/Music (Mail), Religious Property

California DOC Settles Federal Suit to Permit Bible Study Materials; Establishes Pilot Program For Screening Books and CDs by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) settled a lawsuit brought by Jesus Christ Prison Ministry (JCPM) that sought to overcome CDCR's rigid bar …