In Theron v. County of York, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16377 (MD PA, Feb. 9, 2012), a Pennsylvania federal district court dismissed claims by an immigration detainee that while housed at a state prison he was not provided an Imam for Jumah services or Halal food during Ramadan, and that one of the defendants destroyed a Quran during a cell search.
In Blankenship v. Reginald, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16481 (SD OH, Feb. 9, 2012), an Ohio federal district court refused to appoint counsel and ordered an Asatru inmate to file an amended complaint in a damage claim which was severed from a class action for injunctive relief on behalf of Asatru inmates that was previously resolved. Damage claims under RLUIPA were dismissed.
In Wilson v. Sabatka-Rine, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15844 (D NE, Feb. 9, 2012), a Nebraska federal district court dismissed, with leave to file an amended complaint, claims by a Wiccan inmate that he was not allowed to attend group rituals, was denied possession of his religious medallion for 30 days, while in segregation was denied hardcover books and several religious items, and that authorities failed to recruit Wiccan clergy.
In Alexander v. California Department of Corrections, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16019 (ED CA, Feb. 8, 2012), a California federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing an inmate's challenge to a California prison regulation that prohibits inmates from possessing non-obscene, "sexually explicit material." Among the challenges rejected was the claim that the provision promotes religious belief in violation of the Establishment Clause.
In Nassar v. Butler County Jail, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16421 (SD OH, Feb. 9, 2012), an Ohio federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153057, Sept. 1, 2011) and dismissed a Muslim inmate's complaint that authorities did not provide him adequate Ramadan meals and wrongfully removed him from the Ramadan observance list while he was a pretrial detainee.
In Snyder v. Swarthout, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16300 (ED CA, Feb. 7, 2012), a California federal magistrate judge recommended denying an inmate's habeas corpus petition, rejecting the claim that the Board of Parole Hearings conditioned his release on parole on his participating in a religious 12-step program of NA or AA.
