Cutter v. Wilkinson: Court hears case on religious freedom in prisons

[Digitonomy]

More proof that you need to be careful what you wish for. Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act in 2000, in an effort to safeguard (or promote, according to critics) religious rights in the wake of several court rulings, such as Boerne v. Flores, where the ruling was in favor of the City of Boerne.

Archbishop [Flores] of San Antonio sued local zoning authorities for violating his rights under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), by denying him a permit to expand his church in Boerne, Texas. Boerne’s zoning authorities argued that the Archbishop’s church was located in a historic preservation district governed by an ordinance forbidding new construction, and that the RFRA was unconstitutional insofar as it sought to override this local preservation ordinance.

I don’t have time to dig them up, but there were apparently similar cases where it was felt the religious liberty of inmates was over-regulated by prison officials, so the current Act, RLUIPA, was written to deal with both issues.

The Supreme Court is set to hear this case today. CSM article.

…Lawyers for the inmates warn that if the high court embraces Ohio’s approach, it will invalidate such longstanding religious accommodations as the exemption from military service for religious conscientious objectors. It could also bar paid chaplains from prisons and could force mandatory medical regulations upon those who rely on prayer alone for their healthcare…

The Ohio inmates who filed suit are followers of the Wiccan faith, Satanism, Odinism, and The Church of Jesus Christ Christian. The inmates say prison officials refuse to permit them access to books, ceremonial items, and other accommodations that they say are essential to their worship.

Ohio prison officials say the worship services are a ruse used to plan and carry out prison gang activity, jeopardizing security.

 

[Digitonomy]

Supreme Court today ruled unanimously in favor of the plaintiffs - in other words, in favor of the Wiccans, Satanists, etc mentioned in my post above, and against the prison officials.

straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-9877.ZS.html