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Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

By Howard M. Friedman

In Soder v. Williamson, (3d Cir., June 5, 2009), the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a prisoner's lawsuit that alleged, among other things, that his free exercise rights were violated when he had to wait 24 days for a chest x-ray after refusing for religious reasons to have a TB test by injection.

In Hudson v. Radtke, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47453 (WD WI, June 5, 2009), a Wisconsin federal district court held that plaintiff failed to show that prison authorities substantially burdened his free exercise of religion by failing to return two books, The Noble Quran and Two Faces of Islam, to him.

In McCord v. Hompe, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47450 (WD WI, June 5, 2009), a Wisconsin federal district court dismissed plaintiff's complaint that the segregation library at the Stanley Correctional Institution has no books on the Wiccan religion . It held that plaintiff presented no current case or controversy because he had been moved to a different prison facility.

In a lengthy opinion in Burke v. North Dakota Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47957 (D ND, June 5, 2009), a North Dakota federal district court rejected free exercise and religious discrimination claims by a shaivite Hindu who was in prison after murder and arson convictions. Prisoner Dale Burke claimed that prison authorities reduced the time for Hindu worship services from two to one hour per week, eliminating services on Thursdays; denied him certain items that are essential parts of Hindu worship; and failed to find an outside volunteer to help Burke study his religion.

In McReaken v. Schriro, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48292 (D AZ, May 26, 2009), an Arizona federal district court permitted plaintiff to move ahead with his claim that his Multi-Faith group's religious ceremonies were frequently interrupted by security staff and that they had to be held in an open recreation yard. Plaintiff alleged that prison policies gave more favorable treatment to Native American ceremonies than to other non-Christian groups.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on June 12, 2009 (boomark / email).