Turner v. Hamblin

995 F. Supp. 2d 859, 2014 WL 267151, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6986
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJanuary 21, 2014
DocketNo. 12-CV-699-BBC
StatusPublished

This text of 995 F. Supp. 2d 859 (Turner v. Hamblin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Turner v. Hamblin, 995 F. Supp. 2d 859, 2014 WL 267151, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6986 (W.D. Wis. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION and ORDER

BARBARA B. CRABB, District Judge.

Pro se plaintiff James Turner is proceeding on a claim that various officials at the Columbia Correctional Institution violated his rights under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment by failing to provide services to Muslim prisoners for Jumuah and Taleem when an outside volunteer was not available to lead the service. Defendants have filed a motion for summary judgment, dkt. #34, which is ready for review. In addition, both sides have filed dueling motions to “strike” summary judgment briefs filed by the other side. Dkt. ## 57 and 58. I am denying both motions to strike as unnecessary because the outcome of the motion for summary judgment would not change regardless whether I consider the arguments in the disputed briefs.

Defendants raise a number of arguments in support of their motion for summary judgment, but I need only address one of them, which is that defen[860]*860dants are entitled to qualified immunity because the law is not clearly established that the free exercise clause requires prison officials to hold religious services for prisoners if no qualified nonprisoners are available to lead the service. Humphries v. Milwaukee County, 702 F.3d 1003, 1006 (7th Cir.2012) (“[A] court may grant qualified immunity on the ground that a purported right was not ‘clearly established’ by prior case law without first resolving whether the purported right exists.”). Magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker reached the same conclusion in three recent cases brought by prisoners under the free exercise clause challenging the “non-prisoner volunteer” requirement in the context of group religious services. West v. Grams, 981 F.Supp.2d 820, 11-ev-687-slc, 2013 WL 5966165 (W.D.Wis. Nov. 8, 2013); Kramer v. Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections, 10-ev-224-slc (W.D.Wis. Jul. 26, 2011); Liebzeit v. Thurmer, 10-cv-170-sle (W.D. Wis. June 13, 2011). West was a Muslim prisoner; Kramer and Liebzeit were Odinists.

In each of the three cases, Magistrate Judge Crocker cited Johnson-Bey v. Lane, 863 F.2d 1308, 1310-11 (7th Cir. 1988), in which the court stated that prison officials “need not ... allow inmates to conduct their own religious services, a practice that might not only foment conspiracies but also create (though more likely merely recognize) a leadership hierarchy among the prisoners,” and Hadi v. Horn, 830 F.2d 779, 784-85 (7th Cir.1987), a case in which the court rejected a claim that Muslim prisoners were entitled to lead their own services when chaplain or volunteer was not available. In addition, Magistrate Judge Crocker cited cases from other circuits in which courts upheld similar policies. Adkins v. Kaspar, 393 F.3d 559, 565 (5th Cir.2004) (upholding prison requirement that volunteer must supervise religious services); Tisdale v. Dobbs, 807 F.2d 734, 738-39 (8th Cir.1986) (same). See also Baranowski v. Hart, 486 F.3d 112, 120-22 (5th Cir.2007) (affirming summary judgment in favor of prison on Jewish prisoner’s free-exereise claim where prisoner sought inmate-led services in the absence of a rabbi or approved volunteer); Spies v. Voinovich, 173 F.3d 398, 402, 405-06 (6th Cir.1999) (affirming summary judgment in favor of prison on Zen Buddhist prisoner’s free-exercise claim and approving prison’s prohibition on inmate-led services). The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed Kramer in relevant part, stating, “[gjiven the precedents ... permitting prison administrators to deny group worship where no volunteer or chaplain is readily available to lead services, a reasonable government official would not have known the official was violating clearly established law by refusing Kramer’s requests for ... group worship.” Kramer v. Pollard, 497 Fed.Appx. 639, 642-44 (7th Cir.2012).

The legal landscape has not changed since Kramer, which did not undermine JohnsonBey, Hadi or any other of the cases cited above. In fact, plaintiff does not cite any cases in which a court found in favor of a prisoner on this issue under the free exercise clause.

In this case, defendants rely on the same security justifications cited in the other cases for canceling services when a nonprisoner volunteer is not available to lead them. Plaintiff challenges the testimony of the witness who articulates these concerns (Lucas Weber, the current security director for the Columbia prison) on the grounds that he was not employed at the prison during the events relevant to the case and defendants never identified the witness as an expert. Of course, even if a prison official was not involved in the events of a particular lawsuit, he may still rely on personal knowledge he has acquired through his own experience. Fed. [861]*861R.Evid. 701 (nonexpert witness may give opinion that is “rationally based on the witness’s perception”). In any event, even if Weber’s testimony is improper expert testimony, I do not see how it makes any difference because the opinions he gives are simply restatements of the same opinions that courts have concluded are reasonable in many cases, so I see no reason to require expert testimony in this case.

Plaintiff challenges the reasonableness of a conclusion that the requirement of a nonprisoner volunteer serves a legitimate security interest, arguing that “[o]nly an imbecile and/or an individual that is willing to reach into the land of make believe” would accept defendants’ view. Pit’s Br., dkt. # 49, at 23. However, he simply ignores all the authority going against him. Regardless whether plaintiff agrees with the law, I am bound by it.

Plaintiffs makes a narrower argument that Muslim prisoners should be allowed to congregate to recite the Jumuah prayer because it does not require a leader, but this argument too has been squarely rejected by the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit:

The plaintiffs argue that the security rationale may justify forbidding inmates to give the Jumah sermon but this rationale does not explain why inmates may not lead the prayer portion of Jumah. We reject this approach because, although it might avoid doctrinal disputes, it still places an inmate in a position of authority over other inmates in the context of a religious service. As another alternative, the plaintiffs suggest that the defendants should have permitted the services if a chaplain of any denomination were present to supervise them. This suggestion, however, does not fully meet the defendants’ security concerns. A Muslim chaplain is in a better position to resolve doctrinal disputes that might arise at a service than is a chaplain of another denomination with only limited exposure to the tenets of Islam.

Hadi, 830 F.2d at 786-87. Again, plaintiff simply ignores this law.

Alternatively, plaintiff makes various arguments in an attempt to show that defendants’ policy is discriminatory.

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Related

Adkins v. Kaspar
393 F.3d 559 (Fifth Circuit, 2005)
Baranowski v. Hart
486 F.3d 112 (Fifth Circuit, 2007)
Cruz v. Beto
405 U.S. 319 (Supreme Court, 1972)
City of Los Angeles v. Lyons
461 U.S. 95 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Maddox v. Love
655 F.3d 709 (Seventh Circuit, 2011)
Vinning-El v. Evans
657 F.3d 591 (Seventh Circuit, 2011)
Omar Grayson v. Harold Schuler
666 F.3d 450 (Seventh Circuit, 2012)
Douglas Spies v. George v. Voinovich
173 F.3d 398 (Sixth Circuit, 1999)
Edward Bontkowski v. Brian Smith
305 F.3d 757 (Seventh Circuit, 2002)
Garry A. Borzych v. Matthew J. Frank
439 F.3d 388 (Seventh Circuit, 2006)
Derek Kramer v. William Pollard
497 F. App'x 639 (Seventh Circuit, 2012)
Shontay Humphries v. Milwaukee Coun
702 F.3d 1003 (Seventh Circuit, 2012)
Lucero v. Hensley
920 F. Supp. 1067 (C.D. California, 1996)
Stephanie J. Bond v. Michael R. Atkinson
728 F.3d 690 (Seventh Circuit, 2013)
West v. Grams
981 F. Supp. 2d 820 (W.D. Wisconsin, 2013)
Tisdale v. Dobbs
807 F.2d 734 (Eighth Circuit, 1986)
Al-Alamin v. Gramley
926 F.2d 680 (Seventh Circuit, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
995 F. Supp. 2d 859, 2014 WL 267151, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6986, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turner-v-hamblin-wiwd-2014.