In Robledo v. Livingston, (5th Cir., April 14, 2014), the 5th Circuit allowed an inmate to proceed in forma pauperis and vacated the district court’s conclusion that his claims under RLUIPA and the Texas RFRA statute were frivolous. The court held plaintiff's claim that for months he was not allowed to participate in weekly Christian worship services "is not based upon an indisputably meritless legal theory, and his factual contentions are not clearly baseless."
In Layman v. Chacon, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50804 (ND TX, April 11, 2014), a Texas federal district court dismissed an inmate's complaint that some of his religious materials were confiscated when they were improperly stored.
In Miles v. Guice, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51507 (ED NC, April 10, 2014), a North Carolina federal district court allowed an inmate to move ahead, but denied a temporary restraining order, in plaintiff's suit seeking recognition of Nations of Gods and Earth as a religion and accommodation of his religious diet and other practices.
In Rossi v. Fischer, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52068 (SD NY, April 15, 2014), a New York federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52146, March 31, 2014) and refused to grant a Rastafarian inmate a preliminary injunction to allow a group Rastafarian celebration on April 21 after prison authorities agreed to excuse plaintiff from work that day and serve him a vegetarian meal.
In Johnson v. Hicks, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54239 (ED CA, April 17, 2014), a California federal magistrate judge held that an inmate's complaint that his religious materials were confiscated should be dismissed, with leave to amend, since he had not alleged any facts indicating that this substantially burdened his religious exercise.
In Villalobos v. Bosenko, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54280 (ED CA, April 16, 2014), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed, but with leave to file an amended complaint, a Buddhist inmate's claim that he was denied a vegetarian diet.
