Coronel v. Paul

• Decision Date: 20 April 2004
• Docket Number: No. CIV-01-2222-PHX-ROS.,CIV-01-2222-PHX-ROS.
• Parties: Paul Kay CORONEL, Plaintiff, v. Richard PAUL, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Arizona

316 F.Supp.2d 868

Paul Kay CORONEL, Plaintiff, v. Richard PAUL, et al., Defendants.

No. CIV-01-2222-PHX-ROS.

United States District Court, D. Arizona.

April 20, 2004.

Paul Kay Coronel, Florence, AZ, pro se.

Daniel Patrick Struck, Sonia Inez Krainz, Rebecca Smith Masterson, Jones, Skelton & Hochuli PLC, Phoenix, AZ, for Defendants.

ORDER

SILVER, District Judge.

Pro se Plaintiff Paul Kay Coronel, an inmate at the Florence Correctional Center, brings this action against Defendants Richard Paul, Frank Luna, and Corrections Corporation of America ("CCA"), for alleged violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc et seq., and the Free Exercise Clause. Pending before the Court are Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment; Defendants' Cross Motion for Summary Judgment; Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions; and Defendants' Motion to Strike. For the reason stated below, the Motions are denied.

BACKGROUND

A. Facts

1. The Parties

Paul Kay Coronel ("Coronel") is a Hawaii state prisoner confined at the Florence Correctional Center ("FCC") in Florence, Arizona, a private prison operated by CCA. (Defendants' Statement of Facts ("DSOF") ¶¶ 1-2 [Doc. # 66].) Frank Luna is FCC's warden. (Id. ¶ 5.) Richard Paul is the prison's chaplain. (Id.)

2. Dianic Paganism

Coronel is a Dianic pagan.¹ (Affidavit of Paul K. Coronel ("Coronel Aff.") ¶ 2 [Doc. # 61].) According to literature produced by Coronel in discovery and submitted by the Defendants in connection with their Cross Motion, Dianics worship the goddess Diana, a personification of nature. (Modern Day Dianic Practice at 3, attached as Exh. 4 to DSOF.) They seek to understand and enjoy "[n]ature's full assets and capabilities." (Id. at 4.) They search for "eternal truths that answer life's questions," and their "worship of Diana, the Goddess of nature and all forces, helps [them] to live in harmony with these forces and with one another." (Id. at 1.)

Dianics place a strong emphasis on the role of women in their worship (Id. at 6.) They view women "as direct-lineage daughter of Diana possessing divine intelligence and capabilities," and they "agree with ... Socrates that a woman's talent is not at all inferior to a man's." (Id.) As such, they give "special recognition to [women] and those special abilities they bring to the world." (Id.) But they also believe that "[a]ll life derives from and shares the essence of Goddess Diana." (Id.) Thus, "[a]ll men, women, and children are equals and all have been empowered from the Goddess." (Id.) "All are required to perpetuate the wonder of life and enjoy one another during the pursuit of life's pleasure principles." (Id.)

Evolution also plays an important role in the Dianic system. Dianics believe that "Diana is the evolved Goddess of the pre-Judaism families of religion where she was known by a variety of names including Isis, Rhea, Oestra, and others." (Id. at 1.) "This evolution continues today and includes the consolidation of all deities back into Diana, and combines the evolution of the nature of the Goddess with the evolutionary progress of technical discoveries [that enhance] our understanding of [the] natural forces of the universe [.]" (Id.) Dianics "do not claim to have all the answers to life and death, but [they] recognize these answers to be coming with the natural evolution of [their] religion[.]" (Id. at 6.)

Dianics have a moral code based on three elements: respect, pleasure, and responsibility. (Id. at 7.) Respect includes honoring nature and learning to live in harmony with it. (Id.) Pleasure is "the unique gift of Diana" and "a learned power capable of either constructive or destructive effects." (Id.) It is "the reward of responsible respect for Diana." (Id.) Responsibility involves "respecting the natural forces of the Universe (Diana), obtaining maximum pleasure, and contributing to evolution in some degree." (Id. at 8.) A responsible person contributes to the understanding and development of others, "producing pleasure and evolutionary progress for all persons individually, and for the society as a whole." (Id.)

Dianics practice their religion by "organizing local Dianic church circles, arranging worship schedules, selecting worship practices," and attending "religious-related events & festivals." (Id. at 9.) Dianic paganism is a dynamic faith and its practices "vary between individuals, as well as between individual Dianic church circles." (Id.) Some Dianics "share pleasures with one another in limitless responsible manners;" others enjoy "moonlight dancing;" others "give gifts to the Goddess and/or those in need;" and others "share prayer-treatment/meditations and technical/evolutionary projects." (Id.) Worship includes many different activities — "living, loving, dancing, studying, singing, meditating, eating, giving, researching, creating are all forms of worship." (Id.)

B. Coronel's Complaint

Coronel was transferred to FCC in early 2001. (Verified First Am. Compl. at 4 [Doc. # 10].²) There were no Dianic pagans at FCC at the time and no umbrella WICCA group existed. (Id.) Coronel says that he approached a group of Pasqua Yaqui Native Americans and asked to join what he calls "their pagan religious practices." (Id.) The Pasqua Yaquis allowed him to join. (Id.) According to Coronel, so did former Warden Pablo Sedillo and former Program Manager Chuirch.³ (Id.) Coronel alleges that he then began worshiping with the group. (Id.) Around this time, native Hawaiians in FCC custody also practiced their "pagan religion" on FCC grounds.⁴ (Id.)

In April 2001, Warden Sedillo and Program Manager Chuirch "were terminated," and Warden Frank Luna and Chaplain Richard Paul took over. (Id.) Coronel claims that Chaplain Paul refused to allow him to continue to worship with the Pasqua Yaquis. (Id.) He says that he later approached Paul and asked to arrange "some pagan practice." (Id. at Exh. A.) Paul advised him to join "the native Hawaiian pagan religious services." (Id. at 4.) Coronel claims that when he "approached the leader of the pagan Hawaiian religious group" and "requested to join," he "`was informed ... that Chaplain Richard Paul just ordered the termination of [that group].'" (Id. at 8)

Coronel alleges that he met with Warden Luna in a private office soon after meeting with Chaplain Paul. (Id. at 8.) He claims that Luna told him "of his experiences in establishing a WICCA group while he was warden of a CCA facility in Colorado" and that Luna promised to establish a WICCA group at FCC in the future. (Id.) Coronel says that he "patiently awaited Warden Luna's promised establishment of the WICCA group." (Id.) When no group was established, Coronel filed a grievance, appealed the denial, and then filed this action, alleging that the Defendants had banned all pagan religious exercise (Id.)

After Coronel filed his Complaint, a few FCC inmates converted to Dianic paganism and were allowed to practice with Coronel. (DSOF ¶ 12; Exh. 7 to Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J.) Coronel, however, apparently still wishes to practice with the Pasqua Yaquis and the native Hawaiians. (See Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J.) The Defendants admit that Coronel is not allowed to attend religious services with those groups. (Def.'s Resp. to Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J. and Def.'s Cross Mot. for Summ. J. at 3; DSOF ¶ 5.) They claim that the Pasqua Yaquis and the native Hawaiians do not "practice any form of Coronel's religion" and that prison policy prohibits mixing inmates from different jurisdictions (DSOF ¶¶ 7, 9.) In the Defendants' view, Coronel "simply seeks the right to associate with members of other religions[.]" (Def.'s Resp. to Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J. and Def.'s Cross Mot. for Summ. J. at 4.)

Coronel claims that his desire to attend services with the Pasqua Yaquis and the native Hawaiians is religiously motivated. He argues that "the Pasqua Yaqui [N]ative American religion, and the native Hawaiian religion share the commonalty [sic] of all being historically established pagan religions." (Pl.'s Obj. to Def.'s Cross Mot. for Summ. J. and Reply in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. at 5 (emphasis in original)). He alleges that the Defendants have "isolated" him from "communal worship with fellow pagan practitioners, prohibiting the sharing of their common eclectic pagan rites, rituals, prayers, and other religious components common to all, and necessary to achieve meaningful satisfactory religious exercise[.]" (Verified First Am. Compl. at 9.) He further claims that inmates from different jurisdictions are in fact mixed at FCC and interact daily in the "recreational yard, medical, unit, halls, and at other locations." (Coronel Aff. ¶¶ 3-4.)

C. Procedural History

Coronel filed his First Amended Complaint on January 31, 2002, alleging that the Defendants violated the RLUIPA and the Free Exercise Clause "by burdening and preventing [his] religious exercise." (Verified First Am. Compl. at 8 [Doc. # 10.]) The alleged violations consist of (i) Chaplain Paul's refusal to allow Coronel to participate in Pasqua Yaqui religious ceremonies, (ii) Paul's simultaneous "termination" of the native Hawaiian religious group, (ii) Warden Luna's "failure to halt" Paul's actions, (iii) Warden Luna's alleged failure to establish a WICCA program at FCC, and (iv) Defendant CCA's alleged failure to train its employees to accommodate religious practices. (Id. at 8-9.)

Coronel moved for summary judgment on March 27, 2003. [Doc. # 61.] There is some ambiguity as to whether the Motion pertains only to Coronel's RLUIPA claim or to both his RLUIPA and Free Exercise Clause claim. Coronel repeatedly cites and discusses the RLUIPA but does not mention the Free Exercise Clause, except perhaps obliquely by a single reference to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Because Coronel did not explicitly move on his Free Exercise Clause claim and because the Defendants have responded only to Coronel's RLUIPA claim, the Court construes the Coronel's...