6th Cir. and RLUIPA

[Susanna Peters]

This is also having an immediate impact on the prisoner litigation out 
there in the Sixth Circuit. In Jenkins v. Martin, a case involving a 
religious group called the Melanics (an offshoot Islamic group), the 
Melanics have been attempting to use RLUIPA challenge the fact that they 
were banned by the DOC (they were required to renounce thier faith in 
writing, give up religious symbols and texts etc). The state of Michigan 
just filed a supp brief to their MTD, stating that Hoevenaar requires 
that the District Court to utterly defer to the prison officials in this 
RLUIPA action and that the decision can and should be based solely on 
the officials testimony that the religion should be banned because it it 
harmful to the the prison. In sum, despite ostensibly keeping RLUIPA 
alive, at least in the prison context, Cutter, and now Hoevenaar seems 
to have made the states job much easier.  If anyone is interested in the 
states short brief let me know. Hoevenaar seems to leave very little, 
room for the goals articulated by RLUIPA. I am wondering what is or 
should be left.

Susanna Peters


  hamilton02 at aol.com wrote:
> The 6th Cir has been busy with the prison provisions of RLUIPA this last 
> week.  In addition to finding congressional power under the Spending 
> Clause in the case Derek mentioned, in Hoevenaar, earlier in the week, 
> the Court applied the RLUIPA prison provisions and engaged in the sort 
> of deferential review one might have expected from a plain reading of 
> the Supreme Court's decision in Cutter v. Wilkinson. 
>  
> Marci
> 
> 
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