7th Circuit reinstates prisoner’s RLUIPA suit over dietary accomodations
The 7th Circuit has issued this opinion: Koger v. Bryan, 05-1904 (7th Cir., Apr. 24, 2008). The opinion begins:
MANION, Circuit Judge. Gregory Koger (“Koger”), a former inmate at the Pontiac Correctional Center in llinois, filed suit against six prison officials claiming they failed to accommodate his religious-based requests or a non-meat diet. Koger claimed that this failure to accommodate his dietary request was a violation of his rights as protected by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), and the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that Koger’s diet was not changed because his request did not meet the requirements necessary for prisoners seeking such an accommodation and that those requirements were lawful. The district court granted the defendants’ motion as to all of Koger’s claims, and Koger now appeals. We reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment in Koger’s RLUIPA claim, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Among other things, prison officials argued that Koger’s dietary concerns were not held pursuant to a sincerely held religious belief.