Khatib v. County of Orange, 08–56423.

• Decision Date: 15 March 2011
• Docket Number: No. 08–56423.,08–56423.
• Citation: 639 F.3d 898
• Parties: Souhair KHATIB, Plaintiff–Appellant,v.COUNTY OF ORANGE, a political subdivision; Michael S. Carona, an individual; Brian Cossairt, an individual, Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

639 F.3d 898

11 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 3180

2011 Daily Journal D.A.R. 3813

Souhair KHATIB, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.COUNTY OF ORANGE, a political subdivision; Michael S. Carona, an individual; Brian Cossairt, an individual, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 08–56423.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Dec. 13, 2010.Filed March 15, 2011.

Jennifer Mathis and Becki F. Kieffer, Troutman Sanders LLP, Irvine, CA; Mark D. Rosenbaum (argued) and Hector O. Villagra, ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, for the plaintiff-appellant.David D. Lawrence (argued) and Christina M. Sprenger, Lawrence Beach Allen & Choi, PC, Santa Ana, CA, for the defendants-appellees.Conor B. Dugan (argued) and Gregory B. Friel, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae United States.Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California, David O. Carter, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. 8:07–cv–01012–DOC–MLG.Before: ALEX KOZINSKI, Chief Judge, MARY M. SCHROEDER, DIARMUID F. O'SCANNLAIN, SIDNEY R. THOMAS, M. MARGARET McKEOWN, RAYMOND C. FISHER, RONALD M. GOULD, JOHNNIE B. RAWLINSON, RICHARD R. CLIFTON, SANDRA S. IKUTA, and N. RANDY SMITH, Circuit Judges.Opinion by Judge McKEOWN; Concurrence by Judge GOULD.

OPINION

McKEOWN, Circuit Judge:

Recognizing the significance of religious freedom in all aspects of life, Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (“RLUIPA” or “the Act”) to “protect[ ] institutionalized persons who are unable freely to attend to their religious needs and are therefore dependent on the government's permission and accommodation for exercise of their religion.” Cutter v. Wilkinson, 544 U.S. 709, 721, 125 S.Ct. 2113, 161 L.Ed.2d 1020 (2005). RLUIPA prohibits state and local governments from imposing “a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person residing in or confined to an institution” unless the government demonstrates that imposing that burden “is the least restrictive means” of furthering “a compelling governmental interest.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc–1(a). The term “institution” includes “a jail, prison, or other correctional facility” and “a pretrial detention facility.” 42 U.S.C. § 1997(1)(B). We consider whether the Orange County Santa Ana Courthouse holding facility, where every day hundreds of individuals are detained in connection with court proceedings, is an “institution” as defined by RLUIPA. We conclude that this facility is such an “institution” under RLUIPA, and thus the Act covers persons detained at the facility.

Our interpretation of the statute is guided by three principles. To begin, the focus of our inquiry is narrow and preliminary. The only question before us is whether Orange County's facility is an “institution” under RLUIPA; other courthouse or detention facilities have unique characteristics that warrant individualized review. Next, we are mindful that the issue of accommodation—whether the substantial burden on religious exercise is “the least restrictive means of furthering [a] compelling governmental interest”—is distinct from the threshold issue of whether the facility is a covered “institution” in the first place. 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc–1(a). The accommodation question involves serious practical considerations regarding institutional safety, security, and the feasibility of accommodation that are not before us now. Finally, Congress has explicitly directed us to resolve any ambiguities in RLUIPA “in favor of a broad protection of religious exercise, to the maximum extent permitted.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc–3(g) (emphasis added). With this framework in mind, we turn to the background of the case.

Background

Souhair Khatib is a practicing Muslim. In accordance with her religious beliefs, Khatib wears a hijab, or headscarf, covering her hair and neck when in public. Khatib and her husband pled guilty in Orange County Superior Court to a misdemeanor violation of California welfare law. The Khatibs were sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to complete thirty days of community service.

Two days before the deadline for completing their community service, Khatib and her husband appeared in Orange County Superior Court to seek an extension. The court revoked Khatib's probation and ordered her taken into custody. Khatib was handcuffed and taken to the Santa Ana Courthouse's holding facility.

At the booking counter, a male officer ordered Khatib to hand over her belongings and remove her headscarf. Having her head uncovered in public, especially in front of men outside of her immediate family, is a “serious breach of [Khatib's] faith and a deeply humiliating and defiling experience.” Weeping, Khatib explained that her religious beliefs forbade her from taking off her headscarf and pleaded with the officers to allow her to keep it on. Khatib was warned that the male officers would remove the headscarf for her if she did not voluntarily do so. Wanting to avoid being touched by the male officers—another violation of her religious beliefs—Khatib reluctantly complied.

Khatib spent the majority of the day in a holding cell in view of male officers and inmates. Experiencing “severe discomfort,” “distress,” and “humiliat[ion],” Khatib attempted to cover herself by pulling her knees into her chest and covering her head with a vest she was wearing. At a hearing that afternoon, the court reinstated Khatib's probation and provided an extension of time to complete community service.

Khatib filed a complaint against the County of Orange, the sheriff, and courthouse officers (“the County”), alleging, among other things, violations of RLUIPA. The district court dismissed Khatib's RLUIPA claims on the ground that the courthouse holding facility was not a covered institution under the Act. The district court wrote at length about the conditions in longer-term facilities and on the difference between courthouse holding facilities and longer-term facilities such as correctional centers and prisons. The court concluded that because

an inmate's stay in a courthouse holding facility is generally temporary and transitory, ... constant movement within holding facilities makes unlimited exercise of religious and expressive freedoms impractical. Staff at such facilities do not have the luxuries that make such freedoms feasible in longer-term institutions, to which RLUIPA plainly applies. As a result, the Court cannot conclude that Congress intended ... RLUIPA to apply to courthouse holding facilities.

As we explain below, this exegesis about the practicality of religious accommodation improperly merges two distinct inquiries: whether the facility is an “institution,” and the government's burden as to accommodation. Only the former question is at issue in this appeal.

Analysis

A. RLUIPA Overview

We apply well-established legal principles of statutory interpretation. We begin, “as always,” with the text of the statute. Duncan v. Walker, 533 U.S. 167, 172, 121 S.Ct. 2120, 150 L.Ed.2d 251 (2001). We presume that Congress “says in a statute what it means and means in a statute what it says there.” Conn. Nat'l Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. 249, 253–54, 112 S.Ct. 1146, 117 L.Ed.2d 391 (1992). Thus, the plain meaning of a statute controls where that meaning is unambiguous. See Harris Trust & Sav. Bank v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc., 530 U.S. 238, 254, 120 S.Ct. 2180, 147 L.Ed.2d 187 (2000).

Section 3 of RLUIPA provides that

[n]o government shall impose a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person residing in or confined to an institution, as defined in [42 U.S.C. § 1997], even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, unless the government demonstrates that imposition of the burden on that person (1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

42 U.S.C. § 2000cc–1(a). Thus, an individual must have been “residing in or confined to” a covered “institution” to invoke the protections of the Act. The key interpretive question is whether Khatib meets this criterion.

RLUIPA incorporates by reference the definition of “institution” from the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act of 1980 (“CRIPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 1997 et seq., which defines the term to include “any facility or institution” that is “a jail, prison, or other correctional facility[or] a pretrial detention facility.” ¹ Under the ordinary, common meaning of these terms, the Santa Ana Courthouse holding facility falls within the definitions of “pretrial detention facility” and of “jail.” ² See Perrin v. United States, 444 U.S. 37, 42, 100 S.Ct. 311, 62 L.Ed.2d 199 (1979) (instructing that “unless otherwise defined, words will be interpreted as taking their ordinary, contemporary, common meaning”). In reaching this conclusion, we begin with the County's own description of the facility.

B. The Santa Ana Courthouse Holding Facility

The best description of the Santa Ana Courthouse holding facility comes from the Orange County Grand Jury Report, an annual publication mandated by state law.³ The 2006–2007 report lists the courthouse facility as one of Orange County's adult jail facilities and describes it as follows:

COURT HOLDING FACILITY is a secure detention facility located within a court building used for the confinement of persons solely for the purpose of a court appearance for a period not exceeding 12 hours.2006–2007 Orange County Grand Jury, The State of Orange County Jails and Programs 1 (June 7, 2007) (“Grand Jury Report”). The facility is further described by the County as a “labyrinth of sub-basements, tunnel[s], secured elevators, and holding cells” through which approximately 600 inmates travel each day. Id. at 4. The facility holds individuals taken into custody at the courthouse as well as inmates who are transferred from other facilities to appear at court hearings or trial....