In Barnett v. Short, (8th Cir., Feb. 28. 2025), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed in part the dismissal of a suit brought by a former inmate who alleges that while in administrative segregation in the Jefferson, Missouri County jail he was denied access to a Bible. The court held that damages are available in suits under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, at least where the defendant does not enjoy sovereign immunity, saying in part:
Though damages against a defendant that enjoys sovereign immunity may not be "suitable" or "proper," damages against those that don't are the norm....
We therefore conclude that the district court erred in dismissing Barnett's RLUIPA claim against the county.
The court however affirmed the dismissal of the suit against the jail administrator in her individual capacity, saying in part:
RLUIPA permits claims against a "government," see 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc–2(a), and it defines "government" to include county officials and "any other person acting under color of State law." ... That language permits suits against individual defendants in both their official and individual capacities....
But we conclude that Congress's authorization of suits against non-recipients of federal money in their individual capacities exceeds its spending power. That's because "the legitimacy of Congress' power to enact Spending Clause legislation rests not on its sovereign authority to enact binding laws, but on whether the recipient voluntarily and knowingly accepts the terms of that 'contract.'"...
The court also reversed the dismissal of plaintiff's free exercise claim against the jail administrator, but affirmed dismissal of that claim against the county because " Short did not possess the authority needed to render the county liable for her decision."
Judge Loken dissented in part, saying that he would affirm the decision to dismiss the free exercise claim against the jail administrator, agreeing with the trial court that the deprivation of the Bible did not impose a substantial burden on plaintiff's religious exercise.
