Cutter v. Wilkinson, Dir., OH DOC

Summary

        U.S. Supreme Court, pending

        The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition for writ of certiorari after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing en banc of a Sixth Circuit panel's decision that certain provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

        Three inmates of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) brought cases alleging that ODRC officials were imposing burdens on their religious exercise that would violate RLUIPA. The inmates, members of the Wicca, Asatru, and Satanist religions, claimed that they were denied access to religious literature, ceremonial items, and opportunities for group worship. The respondents moved to dismiss, on the basis of the unconstitutionality of the RLUIPA provision that no government shall impose a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person confined to an institution unless the burden is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest. After the district court found the statute constitutional, a Sixth Circuit Panel held that the RLUIPA created an unconstitutional violation of the establishment clause. The Sixth Circuit denied a petition for rehearing en banc of its decision, which conflicted with holdings of three other circuits.

        The United States Supreme Court will decide the following question. Does a provision of the RLUIPA that requires state officials to lift unnecessary governmental burdens imposed on the religious exercise of institutionalized persons under their control violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment?

— Brian Cardile