RLUIPA
37 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-1131 | Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist, Inc. v. Joel Frederic, et ux. | Kentucky | 2026-03-26 | Pending | equal-protection land-use-regulation religious-freedom RLUIPA substantial-burden zoning-law | 1. Whether a land-use regulation that prohibits a religious institution from building a religious structure on its own property constitutes a "substan… | |
| 25-6517 | Ammon Ra Sumrall v. Georgia Department of Corrections, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | 2026-01-08 | Pending | Response RequestedIFP | damages government-official individual-capacity religious-freedom rluipa statutory-interpretation | The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. 2000cc et seq., like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 199… |
| 25-6058 | Raymond E. Lumsden v. Eric Guerrero, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, et al. | Fifth Circuit | 2025-11-06 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | equal-protection establishment-clause first-amendment prison-ministry religious-discrimination rluipa | 1. Does.Texas' Partnership With The 'Heart'Of Texas College Of Ministry, A Solely Christian-Based Organization Housed And Operated On A Texas Prison… |
| 25-5639 | Fathiree Uddin Ali v. Stephen E. Adamson, Chaplain, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2025-09-16 | Pending | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | first-amendment individual-capacity injunctive-relief mootness religious-freedom rluipa | Congress has enacted two "sister" statutes to protect religious exercise: the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) 42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq… |
| 24-1327 | Spirit of Aloha Temple, a Hawaii Nonprofit Corporation, et al. v. Maui County, Hawaii, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2025-06-30 | Denied | Amici (1)Response Waived | first-amendment municipal-jurisdiction religious-exercise rluipa substantial-burden zoning-permit | Must a religious organization seeking to build a church prove that it is precluded from using other sites within a municipality's jurisdiction and/or … |
| 24A1179 | Dewey Austin Barnett, II v. Brenda Short, et al. | Eighth Circuit | 2025-06-02 | Presumed Complete | individual-officials money-damages religious-freedom RLUIPA spending-clause state-law | 1. This case presents an important question that has divided the Circuit Courts about the scope of Congress' authority under the Spending Clause to im… | |
| 24-1140 | Peter Allan, Sr., et al. v. Minnesota Department of Human Services, et al. | Eighth Circuit | 2025-05-06 | Denied | Response Waived | appellate-review civil-rights institutionalized-persons mootness-doctrine religious-land-use rluipa | The gravamen of the institutionalized persons' 2021 complaint is that Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) is choosing not to follow the Religious La… |
| 24-6778 | Jessie Hoffman v. Gary Westcott, Secretary, Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, et al. | Fifth Circuit | 2025-03-16 | Denied | IFP | cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment execution-method nitrogen-gassing religious-freedom rluipa | 1. Whether a method of execution that superadds psychological suffering—including terror and mental anguish—compared to an available alternative metho… |
| 24-5301 | Derek J. DeGroot v. Wisconsin Department of Corrections, et al. | Seventh Circuit | 2024-08-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | equitable-exception federal-court jurisdictional-limitation mootness rluipa sua-sponte | Given that there are no equitable exceptions to jurisdictional limitations, and the doctrine of mootness includes a "capable of repetition yet evading… |
| 24-24 | Marcelo Hernandez v. Hassan Alameddine, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2024-07-10 | Denied | 1983-claims 9th-circuit-review civil-procedure civil-rights due-process federal-courts federal-jurisdiction religious-freedom rluipa rluipa-violation tort-claims | Does the 9th circuit have power to ignore U.S. Supreme Court ruling in, Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131 (1988). | |
| 23-7574 | Marcus Donte Middlebrook v. Kelly M. Wellman, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2024-05-29 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | civil-rights deliberate-indifference due-process free-exercise judicial-discretion medical-needs rluipa summary-judgment | DID THE US DISTRICT COURT JUDGE ABUSE ITS DISCRETION IN ADOPTING THE MAGISTRATE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION, GRANTING THE DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMA… |
| 23A854 | Anthony Earl Ridley v. Laura Kelly, Governor of Kansas, et al. | Kansas | 2024-03-20 | Denied | administrative-exhaustion extraordinary-writ first-amendment religious-freedom rluipa standard-of-review | (1.) Did the Court of Appeals contravene the requirements of the appellate court's standard of review on a motion for a temporary restraining order an… | |
| 23-6429 | Jan M. Gawlik v. Scott Semple, et al. | Second Circuit | 2024-01-08 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | administrative-remedies due-process free-exercise free-exercise-clause mailbox-rule property-rights religious-exercise rluipa summary-judgment | WHERE THE CONNECTICUT DISTRICT-COURT -FAILED TO UTILIZE THE,"MAILBOX RULE", WITHIN PLAINTIFFS TIMELY SUBMISSION OF HIS ADMINISTRATIVE RE-MEDIES/EXHAUS… |
| 23-5669 | Steven Grimm v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2023-09-29 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3582 2255-petition compassionate-release compassionate-relief district-court federal-prisoner first-amendment habeas-corpus religious-beliefs religious-exemption rluipa section-3582 | 1. Where a federal prisoner's religious beliefs prevented him from getting vaccinated, was it error for the district court to deny his motion for comp… |
| 22-7780 | John Thomas Entler v. Eric Jackson, et al. | Washington | 2023-06-13 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | burden-of-proof prison-regulations religiosity religious-accommodation religious-exercise rluipa sincerely-held-beliefs sincerity strict-scrutiny substantial-burden | A. WHETHER PRISON OFFICIALS CAN REQUIRE PRISONERS TO SHOW CENTRALITY IN W-DOC'S RRIS APPLICATION PROCESS FOR REQUESTING RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATIONS, AND … |
| 22-7651 | Lily Cassandra Alphonsis v. Joel Garnica, Deputy, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2023-05-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | americans-with-disabilities-act civil-rights due-process eighth-amendment excessive-force hijab-ban prison-administration religious-accommodation religious-freedom rluipa | a) Whether a jail facility's ban on the hijab or religious head scarf worn for religious reasons, was the least restrictive means of ensuring effectiv… |
| 22-6742 | Jan M. Gawlik v. Ned Lamont, Governor of Connecticut, et al. | Connecticut | 2023-02-10 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | conditions-of-confinement discrimination due-process first-amendment free-exercise religious-freedom rluipa symbolic-expression | WHERE THE GOVERNOR/MALLOY; P.DANNELL OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT, RECOMMENDED SEMPLE,SCOTT AS COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTIONS WITHIN CONNECTICUT TO THE ST… |
| 22-6225 | Jerome Kieffer v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2022-12-06 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constitutional-procedure criminal-law due-process federal-jurisdiction fourth-amendment imprisonment-rights religious-land-use rluipa sixth-amendment statutory-interpretation void-for-vagueness | (1) Does the Unconstitutionally Vague language, Struck down by the Court in 18USC 10), apply to 18USC 722(c)(G)? (2) May a Stipulation Suffice To Con… |
| 22-6230 | Derrick A. Edwards v. K. King, et al. | Fourth Circuit | 2022-12-06 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | civil-rights compelling-interest constitutional-rights criminal-conviction evidence-challenge free-exercise judicial-review least-restrictive-means procedural-limitations RLUIPA substantial-burden substantive-due-process | Question not identified. |
| 22-6054 | Stephen Barbee v. Bryan Collier, et al. | Fifth Circuit | 2022-11-15 | Denied | IFP | capital-punishment execution-chamber fifth-circuit first-amendment free-exercise prison-litigation-reform-act prison-policy religious-rights rluipa spiritual-advisor | 1. Whether the Fifth Circuit erred in vacating as an abuse of discretion the injunction requiring TDCJ to publish a clear policy where the district co… |
| 22-309 | City of Salinas, California v. New Harvest Christian Fellowship | Ninth Circuit | 2022-09-30 | Denied | Amici (1)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) | circuit-split civil-rights equal-terms equal-terms-provision facial-challenge land-use-regulation religious-land-use rluipa zoning zoning-ordinance | The "equal terms" provision of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) states that "[n]o government shall impose or … |
| 22-260 | Burtonsville Associates, et al. v. Montgomery County, Maryland, et al. | Fourth Circuit | 2022-09-20 | Denied | church-construction equal-terms equal-terms-claim free-exercise religious-exercise religious-land-use rluipa substantial-burden zoning zoning-denial | 1. Must a congregation seeking to build a church prove that it had a reasonable expectation of zoning approval before it can establish that a zoning d… | |
| 22-108 | Richard R. Watkinson v. Alaska Department of Corrections, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2022-08-03 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (5) | free-exercise free-exercise-clause government-neutrality prisoner-rights religious-accommodation religious-accommodations rluipa strict-scrutiny substantial-burden | 1. Does the Free Exercise Clause permit a prison to deny accommodations to the Petitioner for his religious exercise that it already allows for secula… |
| 21-1405 | Lester J. Smith v. Timothy C. Ward, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Corrections | Eleventh Circuit | 2022-05-06 | Denied | Amici (8) | accommodation circuit-court-review circuit-split civil-rights deference penological-interests prison-policy prisoners-rights religious-freedom religious-liberty rluipa | In Knight v. Thompson , the Eleventh Circuit concluded —on remand following Holt v. Hobbs , 574 U.S. 352 (2015) —that the Religious Land Use and Insti… |
| 21-7282 | Joshua Davis Bland v. Kathleen Allison, Secretary, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2022-03-04 | Denied | IFP | censorship compelling-interest equal-protection fourteenth-amendment least-restrictive-means r-l-u-i-p-a religious-freedom religious-practice rluipa | 1) Does a state prison have the right to void an inmate's religious practice if the state prison refuses to recognize the inmate's religion, and claim… |
| 21-5592 | John H. Ramirez v. Bryan Collier, Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, et al. | Fifth Circuit | 2021-09-07 | Judgment Issued | Amici (17)IFP | compelling-governmental-interest compelling-state-interest execution-protocol free-exercise free-exercise-clause free-speech least-restrictive-means pastoral-support religious-land-use-and-institutionalized-persons-a religious-rights rluipa | 1. Under the Free Exercise Clause and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc–2000cc–5 (2000), does the S… |
| 20-7028 | Amos Mast, et al. v. Fillmore County, Minnesota, et al. | Minnesota | 2021-02-03 | GVR | Amici (1)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (9)IFP | compelling-interest government-interest judicial-review least-restrictive-alternative religious-freedom rluipa strict-scrutiny | (1) When applying strict scrutiny under RLUIPA, can lower courts rely upon an admission that an interest is compelling generally, or must they require… |
| 20-6258 | Arthur L. Campbell v. Cynthia Gause, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2020-11-09 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | civil-rights first-amendment free-exercise islam judicial-review prison-policy religious-freedom rluipa statutory-interpretation substantial-burden | THE SIXTH CIRCUIT COMMITTED PLAIN ERROR, CONTRARY TO 42 U.S.C. §2000cc et seq., WHEN IT ABDICATED THE RESPONSIBILITY, CONFERRED BY CONGRESS ON THE COU… |
| 20-14 | Congregation Rabbinical College of Tartikov, Inc., et al. v. Village of Pomona, New York, et al. | Second Circuit | 2020-07-10 | Denied | Amici (2)Response RequestedRelisted (2) | article-iii article-iii-standing fair-housing-act free-exercise institutionalized-persons-act municipal-law property-rights religious-exercise religious-land-use rluipa standing zoning-law | When it enacted the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc, et seq. , Congress created a cause of acti… |
| 19-8695 | Ruben Gutierrez v. Luis V. Saenz, et al. | Fifth Circuit | 2020-06-15 | Judgment Issued | Amici (1)IFP | compelling-interest execution execution-protocol first-amendment free-exercise free-exercise-clause religious-accommodation religious-adviser religious-exercise rluipa spiritual-aid | 1. Under the RLUIPA, does the State's decision to deprive Mr. Gutierrez of the opportunity to be accompanied during his execution by a religious advis… |
| 19-6985 | Boaz Pleasant-Bey v. Shelby County, Tennessee, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2019-12-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-procedure appropriate-relief circuit-court-conflict first-amendment-free-exercise inmate-led-religious-services inmate-rights qualified-immunity rluipa rluipa-appropriate-relief-clause sixth-circuit trial-on-merits trial-on-the-merits | I.) WHETHER RLUIPA'S "APPROPRIATE RELIEF " CLAUSE ENCOMPASSES THE REQUESTED RELIEF OF A TRIAL ON THE MERITS AND IF SO, DID PLAINTIFF'S REQUEST OF A … |
| 18-9832 | Patrick H. Murphy v. Bryan Collier, Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, et al. | Fifth Circuit | 2019-06-27 | Denied | Amici (1)IFP | civil-rights death-penalty death-row due-process establishment-clause free-exercise free-exercise-clause pastoral-accompaniment religious-liberty rluipa | 1. When a death-sentenced inmate informs prison authorities a month in advance of his scheduled execution date of his desire to be accompanied during … |
| 18A1334 | Robert E. Carter, Commissioner, Indiana Department of Correction, Robert E v. Roman Lee Jones | Seventh Circuit | 2019-06-19 | Presumed Complete | diet-restriction first-amendment prisoner-rights religious-accommodation rluipa substantial-burden | Question not identified. | |
| 18-9649 | Boaz Pleasant-Bey v. Tennessee Department of Corrections, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2019-06-13 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | civil-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process free-exercise halal-diet prison religious-freedom rluipa substantial-burden | Whether RLUIPA prohibits the Defendants from placing a substantial burden upon Petitioner's religious exercise by feeding non-traditional inedible foo… |
| 18-8250 | Joel Marvin Munt v. Minnesota Department of Corrections, et al. | Eighth Circuit | 2019-03-04 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 8th-amendment 8th-circuit appellate-review civil-procedure civil-rights due-process encourage-prisons-to-utilize-transfers-to-moot-sui judicial-discretion mootness mootness-doctrine prisoner-rights rluipa rluipa-standard standing | Did 8th Circuit incorrectly apply mootness standard and encourage prisons to utilize transfers to moot suits, at which point they are then free to tra… |
| 18-944 | Tree of Life Christian Schools v. City of Upper Arlington, Ohio | Sixth Circuit | 2019-01-18 | Denied | Amici (9)Relisted (2) | circuit-split conditional-use-permit discrimination equal-terms equal-terms-provision facial-or-as-applied-violation free-exercise nonprofit-organization religious-land-use religious-land-use-and-institutionalized-persons-a rluipa standing tax-revenue zoning zoning-code | What is the proper test for a RLUIPA equal-terms claim. Whether Tree of Life established a facial or as-applied equal-terms violation here. |
| 19A1052 | Ruben Gutierrez v. Luis V. Saenz, et al. | Fifth Circuit | Granted | Amici (1) | execution-chamber first-amendment free-exercise-clause religious-chaplain RLUIPA substantial-burden | Question not identified. |