Lawson v. Dugger

844 F. Supp. 1538, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1715, 1994 WL 57930
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedFebruary 16, 1994
Docket83-8409-CIV.
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 844 F. Supp. 1538 (Lawson v. Dugger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lawson v. Dugger, 844 F. Supp. 1538, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1715, 1994 WL 57930 (S.D. Fla. 1994).

Opinion

AMENDED FINAL JUDGMENT ON REMAND AND ORDER AFFIRMING PRIOR FINAL JUDGMENT AND AMENDMENT THERETO

ARONOVITZ, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE comes before the Court on remand from two Orders entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on December 21, 1987 and February 1, 1990, respectively.

The Eleventh Circuit has remanded this action for a determination of (1) whether “further factual findings, if any, in accordance with the standards set forth in Thornburgh [v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401, 109 S.Ct. 1874, 104 L.Ed.2d 459 (1989) ],” 1 are needed to determine whether the prison officials’ conduct in restricting the plaintiffs, inmates in the Florida Department of Corrections institutions, from access to religious literature of the Hebrew Israelite faith violates the plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion; and (2) whether the defendants’ proposed plan for censoring literature comports with the procedural due process requirements as set forth in Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974). See Lawson v. Dugger, 840 F.2d 781, 786 (11th Cir.1987).

The Court has considered the opinions of the Eleventh Circuit, memoranda of law submitted by counsel on the issues on remand, oral argument of counsel, the applicable law and pertinent portions of the record, and is otherwise fully advised in the premises. For the following reasons, the Court hereby REAFFIRMS and READOPTS the factual findings of facts contained in its original Memorandum Opinion Including Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, see Lawson v. Wainwright, 641 F.Supp. 312 (S.D.Fla.1986), and the conclusions of law contained in the Final Judgment entered on July 17, 1986 in favor of the plaintiff class, as well as in the Amendment to Final Judgment, entered on July 25, 1986.

Factual and Procedural Background

This is a class action which challenges on First Amendment, equal protection and due process grounds, the refusal by officials of the Florida Department of Corrections to permit inmates in the Department’s penal institutions who profess adherence to the Hebrew Israelite faith to receive religious literature of that faith and to engage in the practice of the Hebrew Israelite religion in the manner allowed to inmate members of other religious groups.

The relevant history of this case dates back to 1986 when, after a bench trial lasting a week, the Court entered a Memorandum Opinion Including Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (“Memorandum Opinion”), enjoining the defendants from denying to the plaintiff class members their right to freely exercise the Hebrew Israelite faith while in *1540 carcerated in any of the Florida Department of Corrections Institutions. See Lawson v. Wainwright, 641 F.Supp. 312 (S.D.Fla.1986). A Final Judgment and Amendment thereto were entered on July 18, 1986 and July 25, 1986, respectively, in accordance with decision in the Memorandum Opinion. The defendants appealed the Final Judgment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

On December 21, 1987 the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the injunction, finding that the restrictions imposed by the defendants violated the plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to freely exercise their religious faith. It remanded the issue of whether the defendants’ proposed plan for censoring literature comported with the procedural due process requirements as set forth in Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974). See Lawson v. Dugger, 840 F.2d 781 (11th Cir.1987). The defendants moved for a rehearing, which the Eleventh Circuit denied, holding that it properly selected and applied to the instant case Procunier v. Martinez, supra, as the controlling standard of review on the First Amendment claim. See Lawson v. Dugger, 840 F.2d 779 (11th Cir.1988).

On appeal by the defendants, the Supreme Court of the United States vacated the Eleventh Circuit’s opinion and remanded the case for further proceedings on the First Amendment claim in light of its then recent opinion in Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401, 109 S.Ct. 1874, 104 L.Ed.2d 459 (1989). See Dugger v. Lawson, 490 U.S. 1078, 109 S.Ct. 2096, 104 L.Ed.2d 658 (1989). In Thornburgh, the Supreme Court held that regulations of incoming correspondence to prisoners are valid if they are “reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” Thornburgh, 490 U.S. at 421, 109 S.Ct. at 1885. On February 1, 1990 the Eleventh Circuit, in turn, remanded the case to this Court to make further factual findings, if any, in accordance with the standards set forth in Thornburgh.

On January 4,1994, this Court conducted a hearing and heard oral argument on the merits of the two aforementioned issues on remand. At the hearing, the defendants raised for the first time the argument that the change in prison official personnel has rendered this action moot because there no longer is a case or controversy between the plaintiffs and the new prison officials. The merits of the defendants’ mootness argument as well as the issues on remand are addressed below.

Discussion

A. PLAINTIFFS’ FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION

1. Applicable Standard of Law

The only aspect of the First Amendment claim at issue is whether the defendants’ censorship of Hebrew Israelite literature violates the plaintiffs’ free exercise of religion. Although this issue was remanded to be evaluated in accordance with the “reasonableness” standard articulated in Thornburgh, plaintiffs urge that the proper standard of law to be applied is the “compelling interest” test under the newly enacted Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (“RFRA” or the “Act”). Pub.L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (enacted November 16, 1993). Plaintiffs claim that with the adoption of RFRA, the standard of law has returned to that in effect when this Court first ruled. Defendants maintain otherwise and oppose the application of RFRA to this ease. Before the Court addresses RFRA and its applicability, a discussion of the significant pre-RFRA cases regarding the First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion is warranted.

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Bluebook (online)
844 F. Supp. 1538, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1715, 1994 WL 57930, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawson-v-dugger-flsd-1994.