In Mallory v. Winchester, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90581 (ND IN, Dec. 12, 2006), an Indiana Federal district court dismissed a prisoner's claim that he was denied the opportunity to celebrate Ramadan. The court found that neither rude and hateful comments about Islam, nor the meal arrangements that were offered to plaintiff, violated his rights under RLUIPA.
In Blount v. Johnson, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90979 (WD VA, Dec. 15, 2006), a Virginia federal district judge held that-- assuming he can prove a sincerely held religious belief-- denying a prisoner who is a member of the House of Yahweh access to the prison's common fare diet substantially burdens his free exercise of religion. The court rejected the magistrate judge's conclusion that officials are entitled to qualified immunity on the claim.
In Andreola v. Wisconsin, (7th Cir., Dec. 18, 2006), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of claims by an Orthodox Jewish prisoner that his free exercise and RLUIPA rights were violated when prison officials failed to provide him with kosher food meeting his strict standards and failed to permit him to supervise the preparation of his meals. The court also dismissed his claim that officials committed fraud by representing the food served to him as kosher.
In Hallford v. California Department of Corrections, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92536 (ED CA, Dec. 21, 2006), a California federal district court held that a Buddhist prisoner had not exhausted his administrative remedies before he filed suit challenging the difficulties he experienced in attempting to gain access to a vegetarian diet in prison.
In the one recent case on another topic, in Smith v. Sears, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92516 (SD OH, Dec. 21, 2006), an Ohio federal district court permitted a prisoner to amend his pending complaint to allege that forcing him to have his beard cut violated his rights under RLUIPA.
