Civil Rights – prisons — free exercise clause

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Rights – prisons — free exercise clause

It was error to grant summary judgment to a prison on a prisoner’s claim that the prison’s refusal to create an atheist study group violated the First Amendment.

“We can assume that the district court was correct when it ruled that the prison has no duty to recognize every minor religion or belief system that attracts at least two inmates. But we think that further exploration of the degree of interest that actually prevails at Stanley is necessary before it will be possible to rule on Kaufman’s claim. Kaufman points out that in December 2011, Stanley had a total of 1,465 inmates: 178 Catholics, 236 Muslims, 166 Pagans, 517 Protestants, 28 from Eastern Religions, 67 Jewish, and 67 Native American. That left 206 inmates of unknown affiliation—approximately 14% of the total. In his brief, Kaufman cites a number of studies from the U.S. Census Bureau, the New York Times 2004 Almanac, the 2003 World Almanac, and so forth, showing that somewhere between 7 and 14% of adult Americans describe themselves as being atheist, agnostic, or humanist. That suggests that out of the 1,465 inmates, somewhere between 102 and 206 might fall within the proposed group. Only a credible survey of the inmate population, or the simple expedient of adding ‘atheist, agnostic, or humanist’ to the preference form and collecting new data, can resolve this uncertainty.”

Affirmed in part, and Vacated in part.

13-1009 Kaufman v. Pugh

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Wood, J.