In
Tucker v. Collier, (5th Cir., Oct. 3, 2018), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected under RLUIPA the Texas Prison System's treatment of adherents of the Nation of Gods and Earths. Limits were placed on the ability of these adherents to congregate based on the state's categorization of the group as a racially supremacist organization. The inmate bringing the suit disputed that characterization. The court held that the district court had not satisfied RLUIPA's requirement of an an individualized inquiry into the state's compelling interest and least restrictive means. The court said in part:
The justification for the government’s interest rests on the thin ice of two assumptions with little support in the record: (1) that Tucker and his fellow would-be congregants hold supremacist beliefs; and (2) that allowing this supremacist group to privately congregate threatens prison security. The record shows little evidence that Tucker himself, any other Nation adherent in the Coffield Unit, or even any other inmate in Texas, holds supremacist beliefs. In fact, much of the evidence points to the contrary, showing that Tucker and his fellow Nation adherents advocate racial inclusion and nonviolence....
The government rests its conclusion that Tucker and his friends hold supremacist views on haphazard research about Nation beliefs generally....
Beyond its failure to pass muster under RLUIPA’s individualized analysis, the state’s asserted interest fails for another reason: the policy is underinclusive....
The state knows of the purported link between Odinism and white supremacy in its prisons, and its prison officials admit this point openly. Still, those groups are allowed to meet. Because the state fails to offer any explanation for this differential treatment, it fails to present sufficient evidence for summary judgment that its interest is compelling....
The state also failed to show that a categorical ban on Nation assembly is the least restrictive means of advancing its interest.
