No 1st Amendment Violation In Requiring Parolee To Live At Christian Homeless Shelter

In Janny v. Gamez, (D CO, Feb. 21, 2020), a Colorado federal district court dismissed an inmate's First Amendment challenge to his arrest for parole violations. Mark Janny's parole officer directed him to stay at a Christian homeless shelter in order to meet the parole requirement that he establish a residence of record. Janny was expelled from the shelter's program when he refused to attend chapel religious services. The court held that plaintiff's Establishment Clause rights were not infringed because there was a secular purpose for the homeless shelter requirement. The court also accepted defendant's qualified immunity defense to an assertion of free exercise violations, saying that it was not clearly established that a parole officer violates a parolee’s rights by requiring him to reside at a facility that provides religious programming.