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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 …

Sample v. Lappin, DC, Settlement Agreement and Dismissal, 2008

Brief • September 24, 2008

Filed under: Religious Discrimination, Religious Diet, Religious Practices, Free Exercise Clause

Sample v. Lappin, DC, Settlement Agreement and Dismissal, 2008 Case 1:05-cv-00596-PLF Document 67 Filed 09/24/2008 Page 1 of 7 FILED UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SEP 2 Ii 2008 NANCY M/IYER WHITTINGTON, CLERK u.s. DISTRICT COURT BRANDON SAMPLE, Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 05-596 PLF HARLEY …

Vermont DOC Settles Religious Practice Denial Suit For $25,000

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

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Religious Practices

Vermont DOC Settles Religious Practice Denial Suit For $25,000 by The Vermont Department of Corrections (VDOC) settled a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by a former prisoner claiming he had been denied traditional food for Jewish holidays that had been donated by an outside philanthropic organization. Gordon Bock, 53, was incarcerated …

Outside Clergy Requirement for Ramadan Services Upheld

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Denial of Religious Services, Religious Practices, Clergy

Outside Clergy Requirement for Ramadan Services Upheld by Officials at a county prison provided for communal worship during Ramadan only if an outside leader could be found. This restriction did not violate the Turner standard because the Ramadan participants came from different housing units, raising order and security concerns; the …

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 …

Factual Allegations Sufficient for Nutritional and Retaliation Claims to Proceed

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Food, Ventilation, Exposure to Heat, Religious Diet

Factual Allegations Sufficient for Nutritional and Retaliation Claims to Proceed by by Robert Williams Holding that sufficient facts had been alleged, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a prisoner’s claim of inadequate nutrition and retaliation for filing grievances. Michael Strope, a …

Kansas Prisoner not Consumer under State Consumer Protection Act

Article • June 15, 2008

Filed under: Food, State Law Claims, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

Kansas Prisoner not Consumer under State Consumer Protection Act by Nathaniel Ellibee, a Kansas state prisoner, sued the vender which provides meals for the state Department of Corrections (DOC) in state court under the state Consumer Protection Act (Act) because the vender wasn't providing kosher meals. The trial court dismissed …

Massachusetts DOC Denial of Ramadan Food to Prisoner in Seg Upheld

Article • May 15, 2008

Filed under: Food, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Religious Diet, Sabbaths

Massachusetts DOC Denial of Ramadan Food to Prisoner in Seg Upheld by In an earlier opinion, 44 F.Supp.2d 400 (D.Mass. 1999), the court denied summary judgment to defendants on the request of the Muslim plaintiff, serving 10 years in segregation, that he be provided cereal, peanut butter, etc., three days …

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 …

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. …

Missing Ramadan Deadline Insufficient Cause to Deny Right to Attend

Article • December 15, 2007

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Qualified Immunity, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Denial of Religious Services

Missing Ramadan Deadline Insufficient Cause to Deny Right to Attend by Bob Williams The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has reversed the dismissal of a prisoner's free exercise of religion claim, finding that missing a sign-up deadline for Ramadan was an insufficient reason to deny a …

Arkansas Prisoner Denied Kosher Diet Awarded $1,500

Article • October 15, 2007 • from PLN October, 2007

Filed under: Damages, Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Religious Diet

Arkansas Prisoner Denied Kosher Diet Awarded $1,500 by On August 25, 2006, the Director of the Arkansas Department of Corrections was ordered to pay state prisoner Michael Fegans $1,500 for violating his constitutional rights to a kosher diet. Fegans is a devout member of the Assemblies of Yahweh, a religious …

Pennsylvania DOC Settles Religious Dietary Suit

Article • July 15, 2007 • from PLN July, 2007

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, RLUIPA, Religious Diet

Pennsylvania DOC Settles Religious Dietary Suit by On December 26, 2006, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to provide substitute meals to state prisoner Alfonso Pew whenever pork is served. Pew claimed that while imprisoned in the Restrictive Housing Unit, prison officials refused to provide peanut butter or any …

District Court Reversed in Christian Identity Case

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Due Process, Censorship, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Religious Practices, Religious Property

District Court Reversed in Christian Identity Case by The Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed in part and reversed in part a case involving prisoners who adhere to the "Christian Identity Faith." Jacob Ind and Jeffrey Pfleger are prisoners at the Colorado State Penitentiary. They adhere sincerely to …

Eighth Circuit: Certain Prisoners Not Entitled to Religious Meals

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

Eighth Circuit: Certain Prisoners Not Entitled to Religious Meals by On March 30, 2004 the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's order requiring Iowa prison officials to deliver special food trays to segregated members of the Church of the New Song (CONS). The Eighth Circuit affirmed …

BOP Application for Kosher Diet Constitutional.

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

BOP Application for Kosher Diet Constitutional. by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held the requirement that a prisoner at the United States Penitentiary at Lompoc, California fill out an application to receive a religious kosher diet was constitutional. The prisoner, an Orthodox Jew, filed this Bivens action alleging the …

Factual Issues as to Legitimacy of Prisoner Regulation Precludes Dismissal

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

Factual Issues as to Legitimacy of Prisoner Regulation Precludes Dismissal by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded a district court's dismissal of a Wisconsin state prisoner's claim challenging prison dietary policy. Plaintiff prisoner, a Muslim, brought a §1983 action challenging the prison's policy of …

Muslim Prisoner Entitled to Prayer Oil; RLUIPA Held Constitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: RLUIPA, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Religious Property

Muslim Prisoner Entitled to Prayer Oil; RLUIPA Held Constitutional by A federal district court in Wisconsin has held that a Muslim prisoner is entitled to possess prayer oil in his cell, and held the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) is constitutional. Prisoner Jerry Charles filed …

Dismissal of Complaint Seeking Vegetarian Diet and Religious Beads Reversed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Religious Practices, Religious Property

Dismissal of Complaint Seeking Vegetarian Diet and Religious Beads Reversed by Florida's First District Court of Appeal has reversed a trial Court's dismissal of a complaint seeking injunctive relief requiring prison officials to provide a prisoner to be served a religious diet and to possess religious beads. The prisoner was …