Suit Challenges Investigations Into Church Refusals To Host Civil Union Ceremonies

Hawaii's civil union law, permitting same-sex civil unions, enacted in February 2011 (see prior posting) takes effect January 1, 2012. On Wednesday, two Christian churches filed a lawsuit in Hawaii federal district court claiming that individuals who are planning civil union ceremonies have already filed complaints with the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission against churches that refuse to rent their facilities for same-sex civil union and marriage ceremonies. The complaint (full text) in Emmanuel Temple, The House of Praise v. Abercrombie, (D HI, filed 12/28/2011) claims that investigations launched by the Civil Rights Commission have a chilling effect on plaintiffs' free exercise of religion. HRS Sec. 489-3 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in places of public accommodation. Courthouse News Service reports on the filing of the lawsuit.

Zoning Settlement Reached With Unitarian Church

City officials in Wayzata, Minnesota have negotiated a settlement in a RLUIPA lawsuit filed against the city last year by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka which has been trying to get  3-acres of land rezoned so it can build a new church. According to yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune, the church argued that its rights under RLUIPA and the 1st Amendment were being violated by the city's restrictive zoning ordinance that allows churches in only one of 22 districts.Under the settlement, the city and its insurance company will pay the church $500,000 in damages and attorneys' fees and will help the church acquire two small adjacent parcels of land now owned by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The church will drop its lawsuit and work through the city's normal application and permitting process. City council must still approve the settlement at its January 17 meeting. After the conference at which the settlement was worked out, Wayzata mayor Ken Wilcox released a statement (full text) which read in part: "We believe the law supports our position and the City has right to control the planning and zoning within its borders through its long-established Comprehensive Planning process. However, it became clear that ending this expensive and detrimental proceeding was in the overall best interest of the citizens of Wayzata."

Many Muslim Leaders Will Boycott NY Mayor's Interfaith Breakfast

AP reports that 15 Muslim leaders will boycott today's annual interfaith breakfast sponsored by New York Mayor Michaael Bloomberg. The leaders are concerned with Bloomberg's support for a police program that gathered information by infiltrating Muslim neighborhoods and mosques. A letter (full text) signed by the 15 invitees and dozens of other Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders, reads in part:

We believe with heartfelt conviction that during times when a community’s rights are being flagrantly violated its leaders cannot in good conscience appear at a public gathering with the government official who is ultimately responsible and smile for the cameras as if all is well, when we know full well that it is not.... 

This past August, the Associated Press released a series of investigative reports that detailed how, over the past decade since 9/11, the NYPD has been monitoring and profiling virtually every layer of NYC Muslim public life, often with no suspicion of wrongdoing.... According to the investigation, the police department monitored and collected information on New Yorkers at about 250 mosques, schools, and businesses throughout the city, simply because of their religion and not because they exhibited suspicious behavior.

Mayor Bloomberg, the extent of these civil rights violations is astonishing, yet instead of calling for accountability and the rule of law, you have thus far defended the NYPD’s misconduct.

The mayor's office says it still expects some two dozen Muslim leaders to attend the event which is designed to demonstrate the city's diversity.

Zambian Christians Want New Constitution To Reject Gays and Keep Christian Nation

The Christian Post and the Zambian Watchdog both report on a march that was planned for yesterday in Lusaka, Zambia by Christian groups who are demanding that the new constitution being drafted for the country not protect homosexuality. They also want to assure that the new document will retain the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation that appears in the Preamble to the current Constitution. The demonstration was organized by the Christian NGO Rainbow Coalition, whose spokesman said: "This [homosexuality] is a new concept to our culture which Zambians will not entertain as in Zambia we do not even have local terminology for homosexuality." Between 50% and 75% of Zambians are Christians.

Teacher's Defamation Suit Dismissed Under Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine

In Becker v. Clardy, (TX App., Dec. 22, 2011), a Texas appellate court applied the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine to dismiss a defamation action brought by a religion teacher in a Catholic parochial school against a fellow religion teacher.  Teacher Kenneth Becker claimed that teacher Carla Clardy made negative comments about him in front of students in her eighth grade religion class. Clardy resigned while an investigation of the incident by the school's principal and pastor was pending. At that point the investigation stopped. According to the court, Becker claimed only damage to his reputation within the Church community, and the substance of his claim was that Clardy violated the Diocese of Austin Policies on Ethics and Integrity in Ministry. Finding that application of the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine is not limited to suits against authority figures, the court concluded:

Becker chose not to sue the school for its lack of action against Clardy, but brought his claims directly against Clardy. A civil court action resolving Becker’s claims then would encroach on the church’s "ability to manage its internal affairs."

Palestinian Police Break Up Fight Between Priests At Church of the Nativity

CNN reports that yesterday Palestinian police in the West Bank city of Bethlehem were sent into the Church of the Nativity to break up a fight that broke out between Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests. The Church is under a complicated joint administration of Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian religious authorities.  The Church is traditionally cleaned by priests between December 25 and the Orthodox celebration of Christmas that comes in the first week of January. During that clean-up, a fight broke out between two priests who were sweeping the Church. The fight quickly escalated until 50 to 60 priests were striking each other with broomsticks. A similar incident occurred in 2007.

USCIRF Urges State Department To Press North Korea On Religious and Human Rights

With the recent death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom this week wrote Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (full text of letter) urging the U.S. to press North Korea on human rights and religious freedom issues.  The letter reads in part:

The death of Kim Jong Il provides an important opening for clear U.S. leadership.... The growth of religion in North Korea continues to be a perceived threat to the legitimacy of the North Korean ruling family, including the chosen successor Kim Jong Un.  Anyone discovered engaging in clandestine religious activity is subject to discrimination, arrest, arbitrary detention, disappearance, torture, and public execution.... We urge the Administration to clearly signal to North Korea that future political, diplomatic, or economic inducements will require improvements in both human rights and nuclear security issues. 

Russian Court Says Krishna Holy Book Is Not "Extremist"

In Russia yesterday, the Leninsky District Court in the Siberian town of Tomsk dismissed a case brought by the state prosecutor that sought to ban as "extremist" literature a translation and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. (See prior posting.)  The Hindu reports that the court found no grounds for recognising Bhagavad Gita As It Is, a sacred book of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, to be extremist.  The court said it is "one of the interpretations of the sacred Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita." Prosecutors had contended that the book created "social hatred" and promoted "violence against non-believers."

Court Allows Pregnancy Centers To Intervene In Establishment Clause Challenge To Informed Consent Abortion Law

In Planned Parenthood Minnesota v. Daugaard, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148345 (D SD, Dec. 27, 2011), a South Dakota federal district court permitted two South Dakota crisis pregnancy centers to intervene as defendants in a lawsuit challenging on Establishment Clause and free speech grounds the 2011 changes to South Dakota's informed consent abortion law. The court has already granted a preliminary injunction in the case. The challenged amendments require abortion providers to refer women to a "pregnancy help center" before performing the abortion.  A pregnancy help center is defined as an entity that does not perform abortions and which has as one of its principal missions the providing of education and counseling "to help a pregnant mother maintain her relationship with her unborn child and care for her unborn child." Intervenors are two of the three organizations that have registered as pregnancy help centers. The court however placed limitations on the scope and form of intervenors involvement in the case.

6th Circuit: Kentucky High School Athletic Rule Does Not Discriminate On Basis of Religion

In Seger v. Kentucky High School Athletic Association, (6th Cir., Dec. 21, 2011), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a bylaw of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association designed to prevent member schools from recruiting student athletes by "paying" them to play at the school. The rule limits merit-based scholarships to 25% of tuition and bars accepting aid from sources not under control of the school or its governing board.  Plaintiffs argued in part that the bylaw is discriminatory on the basis of religion because it groups Catholic schools into one classification.  The court rejected the argument, concluding that the bylaw uses the grouping merely as a way to group Catholic schools into a broader category of non-public schools and to define their governing board as the archdiocese in which they are located.

Israeli Prime Minister Orders Action Against Ultra-Orthodox Intimidation Over Modest Dress

On Sunday, The Forward reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Israel's Interior Ministry to take strong action against a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews in the town of Beit Shemesh. A television report last week focused public attention on the plight of young girls attending the modern Orthodox Orot Banot school in Beit Shemesh.  Since the school opened last September, girls attending have been cursed and even spit on by a group of extremist Haredi (strictly Orthodox) Jews who believe that the girls' are not dressing modestly enough. The same Haredi are also pushing for gender-segregated bus lines and the designation of parts of the city where women and men would walk on separate sides of the street. A television report on an 8-year old who feared walking the short distance to school has galvanized public sympathy. The mayor of Beit Shemesh ordered city workers to remove signs that directed women to cross the street and not linger in front of a synagogue.  When workers did so, a group of Haredim threw rocks at them and called the municipal workers "Nazis."

At last Sunday's Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke about the issue (full text of remarks), saying in part: "Israel is a democratic, Western, liberal state. The public sphere is open and safe for everyone - men and women alike. There is no place for harassment or discrimination.... The Israel Police are taking, and will take, action to arrest and stop those who spit, harass or raise a hand."

Top 10 Church-State and Religious Liberty Developments For 2011

Here are my nominations for the 2011 Top Ten Church-State and Religious Liberty Developments. The choices are based on the long-range implications of the developments on legal doctrines and on relations between government and religion. I have linked to representative postings on each issue:

1. Legalization of same-sex marriage expands, as religious objections continue to be voiced loudly.  New York passed a same-sex marriage statute and the Obama administration announced it would no longer defend the constitutionality of DOMA while the Defense Authorization Bill assured that military chaplains would not be forced to perform same-sex marriages. Meanwhile litigation over California's Proposition 8 continues and some Catholic social service agencies in Illinois end foster-care and adoption programs to avoid placement with couples in same-sex civil unions.

2. Christian crosses on public property become the focus of litigation. Utah Highway Patrol Association memorial crosses on public property violate the Establishment Clause (10th Circuit). Supreme Court review is denied over dissent by Justice Thomas. The Mt. Soledad Memorial cross violates the Establishment Clause (9th Circuit) and Sunrise Rock Cross litigation continues after a fragmented Supreme Court decision last year.

3. Under pressure from Western countries, the United Nations Human Rights Council and General Assembly pass freedom of belief resolutions that move away from the concept of "defamation of religion."

4. The Supreme Court in Snyder v. Phelps holds that the 1st Amendment protects offensive anti-gay funeral picketing by members of the Westboro Baptist Church.

5. Religion remains an important issue in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination.  Mitt Romney's Mormon faith raises questions for some Christians, while Republican debates have included significant discussion of candidates' attitudes toward church-state matters, religious liberty and Muslims in America.

6. Uncertainty remains on the role of religion in Egypt in the wake of its Arab Spring uprising.  Will religious liberty be assured for Christian Copts? What role will Shariah law play in the country's new constitution and legal system?

7. A measure to ban circumcision makes it onto the San Francisco ballot until a court forces it off on state pre-emption grounds. The proposal was seen by many as reflecting anti-Semitism.

8. The Supreme Court interprets standing narrowly in rejecting an Establishment Clause challenge to Arizona tax credits for contributions to organizations that provide scholarships to private and religious schools. The case is Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn.

9. A Canadian trial court upholds Canada' anti-polygamy law against challenges under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, except for prosecution of minors under the statute.

 10. The Supreme Court in Sossamon v. Texas holds that states which accept federal funding for their prisons retain sovereign immunity to monetary damage claims under RLUIPA.

For comparison, here is a roundup of top 2011 religion developments from BJC blogger Don Byrd  I invite your e-mails (religionclause@gmail.com) if you disagree with my picks.

Omnibus Appropriations Act 2012 -- Provisions On Religious Liberty

On Dec. 23, President Obama signed H.R. 2055, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012. The  lengthy bill contains several provisions of interest to those who follow religious liberty developments (italicized headings are mine):

New Age Belief Employee Training Ban

Title VII of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriation Act, Sec. 714 (at pg. 147):

None of the funds made available in this or any other Act may be obligated or expended for any employee training that— ... (4) contains any methods or content associated with religious or quasi-religious belief systems or "new age" belief systems as defined in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Notice N–915.022, dated September 2, 1988; or (5) is offensive to, or designed to change, participants’ personal values or lifestyle outside the workplace.

Health Care Contraceptive Coverage Exemptions

Title VII of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriation Act, Sec. 727 (at pg. 151):

(a) None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be used to enter into or renew a contract which includes a provision providing prescription drug coverage, except where the contract also includes a provision for contraceptive coverage.

(b) Nothing in this section shall apply to a contract with— (1) any of the following religious plans: (A) Personal Care’s HMO; and (B) OSF HealthPlans, Inc.; and (2) any existing or future plan, if the carrier for the plan objects to such coverage on the basis of religious beliefs.

(c) In implementing this section, any plan that enters into or renews a contract under this section may not subject any individual to discrimination on the basis that the individual refuses to prescribe or otherwise provide for contraceptives because such activities would be contrary to the individual’s religious beliefs or moral convictions.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require coverage of abortion or abortion-related services.

Title VIII of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriation Act, Sec. 808 (at pg. 156):

Nothing in this Act may be construed to prevent the Council or Mayor of the District of Columbia from addressing the issue of the provision of contraceptive coverage by health insurance plans, but it is the intent of Congress that any legislation enacted on such issue should include a "conscience clause" which provides exceptions for religious beliefs and moral convictions.

Preservation of Foreign Religious Sites

Title I of the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies Appropriations (at pg. 381):

None of the funds appropriated under this heading may be used for the preservation of religious sites unless the Secretary of State determines and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that such sites are historically, artistically, or culturally significant, that the purpose of the project is neither to advance nor to inhibit the free exercise of religion, and that the project is in the national interest of the United States.

USCIRF

US Commission on International Religious Freedom (at pg. 388): A budget of $3 million is appropriated, to remain available until Sept. 30, 2013. However the section also provides that Section 209 of the International Religious Freedom Act is to be amended to substitute "September 30, 2012" for "September 30, 2011". This provision causes the Commission to terminate in 2012, even though HR 2687, also signed by the President on Dec. 23, extends the Commission's life until Sept. 30, 2014.

Natural Family Planning Grants

Title III of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act (at pg. 392):

[I]n awarding grants for natural family planning under section 104 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 no applicant shall be discriminated against because of such applicant’s religious or conscientious commitment to offer only natural family planning....

Reconciliation Programs

Title VII of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act (at pg. 465):

Of the funds appropriated by title III of this Act under the headings "Economic Support Fund" and "Development Assistance", $26,000,000 shall be made available to support people-to-people reconciliation programs which bring together individuals of different ethnic, religious and political backgrounds from areas of civil strife and war, of which $10,000,000 shall be made available for such programs in the Middle East

Russian Religious Discrimination

Title VII of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act (at pg. 470):

None of the funds appropriated under the heading "Assistance for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia" in this Act may be made available for the Government of the Russian Federation, after 180 days from the date of the enactment of this Act, unless the Secretary of State certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that the Government of the Russian Federation: (1) has implemented no statute, Executive order, regulation or similar government action that would discriminate, or which has as its principal effect discrimination, against religious groups or religious communities in the Russian Federation in violation of accepted international agreements on human rights and religious freedoms to which the Russian Federation is a party....

Austrian Appeals Court Upholds Conviction For Denigrating Muslim Religious Beliefs

Hudson New York reports on a December 20 ruling by Austrian Provincial Appellate Court in Vienna  upholding the conviction of  Viennese housewife Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff under Section 188 of the Austrian Criminal Code for denigrating the religious beliefs of a legally recognized religion.  Defendant was fined the equivalent of $625. The conviction grew out of a 3-part seminar on Islam that Sabaditsch-Wolff presented in 2009 to a political academy linked to the Austrian Freedom Party, during which she said: "Mohammed had a thing for little girls."

RLUIPA Claim Dismissed On Ripeness Grounds

In Guatay Christian Fellowship v. County of San Diego, (9th Cir., Dec. 23, 2011), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 53-page opinion, dismissed on ripeness grounds a church's RLUIPA land use lawsuit.  Since 1986 the church had held services in a recreation building in a San Diego County trailer park.  In 2008, the county notified the trailer park of numerous land use violations, including illegal conversion of the recreation hall into a church.  The county said that a Modification of Use Permit (MUP) was required to use the building for religious assembly. Without filing for an MUP, the church brought suit alleging violations of RLUIPA as well as violations of the 1st and 14th Amendments.  The 9th Circuit said: "We cannot determine if the Church has suffered a 'substantial burden' under RLUIPA until at least one Use Permit application has been submitted." The court also rejected plaintiffs' constitutional claims.

Washington State Court Stops Autopsy After Religious Objections

On Dec. 16, a Washington state Superior Court judge issued an order barring the Pierce County (WA) medical examiner from conducting an autopsy on the body of an Orthodox Jewish man who was found dead in the snow on Mount Rainier.  The Olympian reported on Friday that 54-year old Brian Grobois died on a solo snowshoe hike.  His body was taken to Madigan Army Medical Center where he was pronounced dead and his cause of death was listed on medical records as hypothermia/ cardiac arrest.  However Pierce County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Clark thought the cause of death was not clear because the body was covered with bruises, and he wanted to perform an autopsy. The family objected, obtained a TRO from a county court commissioner. The county appealed, but Superior Court judge agreed. The episode produced a good deal of celebrity attention and political pressure on behalf of Grobois' family. The Pierce County Jewish community says it will ask the Washington legislature to enact a statutory provision allowing families to object on religious grounds to an autopsy.

In India, Requiring Violators To Swear To Obey Traffic Rules Irks Religious Leaders

In India, Hindu and Sikh religious leaders are angry at the Traffic Police in the city of Gurgaon.  IANS reported last Friday that the Gurgaon police have launched a new Sensible Driving campaign. Truck drivers found violating the rules on expressways are being fined, but then are also being required to take an oath on the holy book of their own religion, swearing to obey traffic rules in the future. Taking an oath in this way violates religious rules of various sorts depending on the religion involved.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Dawinder S. Sidhu, Religious Freedom and Inmate Grooming Standards, (December 18, 2011).
• C. Scott Pryor, C. Scott, The Law of Contracts: A Place to Start, (Journal of Christian Legal Thought, p. 7, Winter 2011).
• Hannibal Travis, On the Original Understanding of the Crime of Genocide, (December 20, 2011).
• Chapin Cimino, Campus Citizenship and Associational Freedom: An Aristotelian Take on the Nondiscrimination Puzzle, (William & Mary Bill of Rights, Vol. 20, p. 533, 2011).

From SmartCILP:

• Kimberly L. Alderman, The Designation of West Bank Mosques as Israeli National Heritage Sites: Using the 1954 Hague Convention To Protect Against In Situ Appropriation of Cultural Sites, 44 Creighton Law Review 799-809 (2011).
• 17th Annual International Law & Religion Symposium. Articles by Thomas B. Griffith, Tahir Mahmood, Rassie Malherbe, Iain McLean, Scot M. Peterson, Rafael Palomino, Vicente Prieto, Jeroen Temperman, Zeng Chuanhui, Zhang Qianfan and Zhu Yingping. 2011 Brigham Young University Law Review 597-818.

Russian Court Reverses Extremism Conviction of Jehovah's Witness Leader

In Russia, the Altai Republic Supreme Court on Thursday reversed the religious extremism conviction of a local Jehovah's Witness leader.  RAPSI reports that the Supreme Court cancelled the Gorno-Altaysk City Court's judgment against Alexander Kalistratov, a head of Altai branch of Jehovah's Witnesses who had been sentenced to 100 hours of community service after he published and distributed 48 articles aimed at discrediting other religions.  The Supreme Court said that Kalistratov's actions do not constitute a crime.  The conviction that was under review came only after a second trial. Initially the local court acquitted, the Supreme Court reversed the acquittal and Kalisrtatov was convicted upon retrial. (RAPSI 11/3).

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

Nelson v. Miller, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145431 (SD IL, Dec. 19, 2011), is a case on remand from the 7th Circuit which held that a prison chaplain substantially burdened an inmate's exercise  of religion by requiring that he provide documentation that his religion required a meatless diet, and by denying his requests for such a diet. In this decision, and Illinois federal magistrate judge concluded that defendant did not have qualified immunity and that his actions did not further a legitimate penological interest. The court awarded plaintiff $2980 in damages for violation of his 1st Amendment rights, but found that individual capacity claims under the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act are barred by sovereign immunity.

In Greene v. Shearin, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145499 (D MD, Dec. 19, 2011), a Maryland federal district court rejected an inmate's free exercise claim, finding that his belief in "Good Mental Health" is a secular, not a religious, belief and that he had not shown that his desire to be supervised by African-Americans is a tenet of his religion.

In Sims v. Wegman, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145700 (ED CA, Dec. 19, 2011), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed, with leave to amend, an inmate's complaint that as a member of Nation of Islam he should be entitled to change from a Vegetarian Diet to a Kosher Diet.

In Rodriguez v. Hubbard, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145701 (ED CA, Dec. 19, 2011), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed an inmate's free exercise and retaliation claims but gave him leave to amend to properly assert claims regarding confiscation of his Native American prayer pipe and other religious artifacts, denial or religious services and counseling and retaliation.

In Drumgo v. Brown, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145829 (D DE, Dec. 16, 2011), a Delaware federal district court upheld a prison rule allowing inmates to have only one religious book in their cell, rejecting an inmate's complaint that authorities confiscated a Qur'an and Bible from his cell and returned only the Qur'an. the Bible was held as evidence for the inmate's disciplinary proceeding.

In Buckley v. Alameida, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146233 (ED CA, Dec. 20, 2011), a California federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing complaints by a Black Orthodox Jewish prisoner that his kosher food packages were confiscated, but recommended that he be permitted to proceed with his claim that his menorah and Hanukkah candles were confiscated with intent to discriminate against him on the basis of religion.

In Pittman-Bey v. Clay, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147350 (SD TX, Dec. 22, 2011), a Texas federal magistrate judge permitted an inmate who is member of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam to proceed with his claim that his free exercise rights were violated by a prison rule that allowed him to receive an after-sunset Ramadan meal only if he attended Friday Jumah services. His beliefs required that he not attend Jumah services while incarcerated.  However money damage claims against certain defendants were dismissed on 11th Amendment grounds, and claims against certain individual defendants were dismissed.

In Hankins v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147067 (WD PA, Dec. 22, 2011), a Pennsylvania federal district court adopted most of the recommendations of a federal magistrate judge (2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147478, Nov. 30, 2011) and dismissed an inmate's complaint that he was denied consultation with a religious representative and denied religious materials.

In Cayce v. George, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147907 (MD TN, Dec. 23, 2011), a Tennessee federal district court dismissed a jail inmate's complaint that while in protective custody he was not able to attend religious services because of a lack of volunteers to provide services.

In Stewart v. Beach, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147765 (D KA, Dec. 22, 2011), a Kansas federal district court dismissed on qualified immunity grounds a complaint by a Rastafarian inmate that he was required to cut his dreadlocks in order to transfer prison facilities to be closer to his mother who had been diagnosed with cancer.

In Treesh v. Leha Bobb-Itt, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147837 (SD OH, Dec. 21, 2011), an Ohio federal magistrate judge denied a motion for reconsideration made by a Native American inmate in a case in which he complained that his free exercise rights were violated when he was not allowed to wear a feather in his hair on a daily basis. His motion was based on the denial of DNA testing to show he was a Native American, though that was not the basis on which authorities did not permit his wearing of a feather.