In Allmon v. Butler, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31986 (D AZ, April 30, 2007), an Arizona federal district court rejected a prisoner's claim that his free exercise rights were violated when he was kept from attending religious services or talking to a pastor regarding family emergencies. Plaintiff did not allege his religion or how he was unjustifiably prevented him from engaging in conduct mandated by his faith.
In Williams v. Arpaio, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31988 (D AZ, April 30, 2007), an Arizona federal district court denied a free exercise claim by a prisoner who complained that he was denied access to religious programming on television and that he is denied Pagan religious counseling.
In Linares v. Mahunik, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31488 (ND NY, April 30, 2007), a New York federal district court accepted the recommendations of a magistrate judge to dismiss a prisoner's free exercise claim, agreeing that a one-time cancellation of a callout to attend choir practice did not substantially burden plaintiff's free exercise rights.
In Harwood v. Tyler, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31908 (ED WA, May 1, 2007), a federal magistrate judge held that a prisoner's free exercise rights were not substantially burdened by the removal and destruction of his religious materials that deprived him of the ability to study for 30 days.
In Kuperman v. New Hampshire Department of Corrections, 2007 WL 120092 (D NH, April 18, 2007), a New Hampshire federal Magistrate Judge recommended that an injunction issue to require an Orthodox Jewish prisoner to receive a Kosher diet. He held that, as applied here, a prison regulation that suspended the inmate's right to a religious diet for 6 months for a single violation of the diet by him is unconstitutional. The Boston Globe reported on the decision last week. UPDATE: Here is the Lexis link: 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32859.
