In Hyde v. Fisher, (ID Ct. App., Feb. 8, 2007), the Idaho Court of Appeals concluded that the trial court had erred in dismissing-- largely on procedural grounds-- a prisoner's federal RLUIPA claim and his state claim under the Free Exercise of Religion Protected Act. The prisoner claimed he had been denied the right to practice his Native American religion. The Court of Appeals temporarily remanded the case, which had gone through a full trial, for the court to enter findings of fact and conclusions of law on the statutory claims.
In Howard v. Epps, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9716 (ND MI, Feb. 9, 2007), a federal district judge accepted a federal magistrate judge's recommendations that a Rastafarian prisoner's free exercise and equal protection challenges to prison hair-length policies be dismissed.
In Ashanti v. California Department of Corrections, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10612 (ED CA, Feb. 15, 2007), a federal magistrate judge, in a long opinion, recommended granting summary judgment for defendants. The effect of this is to reject claims under the 1st, 8th and 14th Amendments by a prisoner that he is entitled to have his African-Muslim name appear as his only name on California Department of Correction records in connection with his current sentence.
Meanwhile the Associated Press today has coverage of a suit filed by a South Dakota prisoner who is seeking various religious items and privileges in order to be able to practice Asatru.
