Howard Friedman, Religion Clause

In In re Pima County Mental Health No. MH64461112, 2015 Ariz. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1364 (AZ App., Nov. 10, 2015), an Arizona appeals court rejected appellant’s claim that because she was receiving treatment in accordance with the tenets of Scientology the trial court should not have ordered her to continue to receive court-ordered mental health treatment.

In Schlemm v. Wall, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155714 (WD WI, Nov. 18, 2015). a Wisconsin federal district court refused to allow a Native American inmate to amend his complaint to add a claim for damages, and ordered the case to proceed only as to declaratory and injunctive relief under RLUIPA as to plaintiff’s complaint regarding venison for use during the Navajo Tribe Ghost Feast and wearing a multi-colored headband while praying in his cell and during group religious ceremonies.

In Brown v. Major, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155632 (D SC, Nov. 18, 2015), a South Carolina federal district court adopted a magistrate’s recommendations (2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155804, Oct. 30, 2015) and dismissed a Muslim inmate’s complaint that he was denied a Kosher diet, the opportunity to pray in common areas, and a Quran.