In an opinion recommending dismissal of an inmate's First Amendment and RLUIPA claims, a California federal magistrate judge held that some decisions by prison staff chaplains do not amount to "state action" for constitutional purposes. In
Wolcott v. Board of Rabbis of Northern and Southern California,
2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57528 (ED CA, April 29, 2016), plaintiff sued the former and current Jewish chaplains at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility because he was not allowed to convert to Judaism. The refusal to allow his conversion stemmed from policies of the Southern California Board of Rabbis and the California Commission of Jewish Chaplains -- to whom the various Department of Corrections Jewish Chaplains report-- that disallow conversion by inmates serving life sentences. The court concluded that the chaplains were not state actors, finding that neither the "public function" nor the "joint action" doctrines applied here. The opinion reads in part:
Whether an inmate is a follower of a particular religion is an ecclesiastical answer to a religious doctrine, not an administrative determination; whereas a decision whether an inmate should be put on an internal prison list as following a particular religion is an administrative determination..., and Plaintiff does not allege that he is not on the list identifying him as Jewish for purposes within the facility, nor do his allegation imply this....
The only religious activities that Plaintiff alleges have been infringed on are that he was not allowed to attend [clergy visits from] the Aleph Institute ... [or] purchase religious packages [from] the Aleph Institute that regarded him as a non-Jew.... Plaintiff was prohibited from engaging in religious activities in these instances by the Aleph Institute -- which is an outside, religious organization that has not been, and cannot be, pursued in this action.
