In Din v. State of Alaska, Department of Corrections, (AK Sup. Ct., Feb. 22, 2023) the Alaska Supreme Court vacated a trial court's dismissal of a suit brought under RLUIPA and the Alaska constitution by a Muslim inmate and remanded the case for further factual development. At issue was the inmate's requests to pray five time per day using scented prayer oils and to eat halal meat as part of his diet. Prison rules only allowed use of scented oils for weekly outdoor congregate religious activities and only provided vegetarian or vegan meals for those requesting a halal diet. The court concluded that both restrictions imposed a substantial burden on the inmate's religious exercise. It went on:
Prison security is a compelling government interest. But DOC’s position that possessing prayer oils is prohibitively dangerous is difficult to reconcile with the fact that it allows inmates to possess “skin cream/oil.” Inmate and staff health are also important government interests, and DOC asserts that “even a seemingly mild scent may cause an adverse respiratory reaction.” But DOC’s position is difficult to reconcile with its policies allowing prisoners to possess other fragranced items, like deodorant, hair spray, and air fresheners....
DOC also asserts that the estimated additional cost of providing “halal/kosher meals . . . to accommodate all Alaska inmates who claim to need a special halal/kosher diet . . . would exceed $1,000,000 annually.” Din contends that this is not a compelling reason because providing him pre-packaged halal food would cost DOC approximately $7,700 more than the cost of regular meals, a small sum compared to its massive budget.
Cost management obviously is an important government interest. But Congress contemplated that RLUIPA may “require a government to incur expenses in its own operations to avoid imposing a substantial burden on religious exercise”....
The court also concluded that there are genuine issues of material fact as to whether present policies are the least restrictive means to achieve the state's interests.
