Martinelli v. Dugger

• Decision Date: 01 June 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-5159,86-5159
• Parties: Anthony W. MARTINELLI, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. Richard L. DUGGER, Mrs. Ana Gispert, Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees, Lt. T. Mowery, Sgt. E. Savoia, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1499

817 F.2d 1499

Anthony W. MARTINELLI, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. Richard L. DUGGER, Mrs. Ana Gispert, Defendants-Appellants,

Cross-Appellees,

Lt. T. Mowery, Sgt. E. Savoia, Defendants.

No. 86-5159.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

June 1, 1987.

Jason Vail, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, Fla., for defendants-appellants, cross-appellees.

Joel V. Lumer, Miami, Fla., Carol Hewett, Tarpan Springs, Fla., for plaintiff-appellee, cross-appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before FAY and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges, and MORGAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

KRAVITCH, Circuit Judge:

George Brown, then an inmate at a Florida state prison, once argued to the former Fifth Circuit that he is an offspring of a God and a Mortal and that a prison regulation requiring prisoners to be clean-shaven infringed upon his constitutional religious liberties because he is himself an established religion and his mustache is a gift from his creator. See Brown v. Wainwright, 419 F.2d 1376 (5th Cir.1970). ¹ The court dismissed Brown's petition without a hearing, finding that the prison rule "appears to be neither unreasonable nor arbitrary." Id. at 1377; accord Brooks v. Wainwright, 428 F.2d 652 (5th Cir.1970). Subsequent cases have made it clear that prison practices that allegedly conflict with constitutional rights of inmates may be subjected to more exacting scrutiny than that suggested in Brown when the inmate's constitutional claim is legitimate. ² See, e.g., Cruz v. Beto, 405 U.S. 319, 92 S.Ct. 1079, 31 L.Ed.2d 263 (1972) (per curiam); Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S. 817, 94 S.Ct. 2800, 41 L.Ed.2d 495 (1974); Shabazz v. Barnauskas, 598 F.2d 345 (5th Cir.1979) (Shabazz I ); Harmon v. Berry, 728 F.2d 1407 (11th Cir.1984); Bridges v. Russell, 757 F.2d 1155 (11th Cir.1985); Shabazz v. Barnauskas, 790 F.2d 1536 (11th Cir.1986) (Shabazz III ).

In this case we re-examine the rights of state prisoners to obtain exemptions from prison rules that allegedly infringe upon constitutionally-protected religious freedoms. Two prison practices are challenged: a requirement that all inmates, except those who qualify for a medical exemption, be clean shaven and wear their hair cut short; and a practice of refusing to honor requests for a completely kosher diet.

I. BACKGROUND

Appellee Anthony Martinelli, an inmate at the Dade Correctional Institution (DCI), a state correctional facility in south Florida, brought this action under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 against appellants Louie Wainwright, Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, and Ana Gispert, Superintendent of the DCI. The complaint also named as defendants Lt. T. Mowery and Sgt. E. Savoia, two corrections officers at the DCI. ³

Appellee alleged that he is a sincere believer in the Greek Orthodox religion and that among the practices of his religion are eating a certain diet and not cutting his hair or beard. Martinelli claimed that appellants required him to cut his hair, ⁴ to be clean shaven, ⁵ and to eat food that was not consistent with his religious beliefs. ⁶ Appellants also allegedly threatened Martinelli with more stringent confinement if he failed to comply with these rules. Appellee sought declaratory relief and an injunction (1) prohibiting appellants from enforcing the prison hair length and shaving regulations against him, and (2) ordering appellants to supply appellee with an adequate diet consisting of: fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, eggs, milk, cheese, peanut butter, jelly, fruit juices, cereals, appropriate meats, and/or a full kosher diet. ⁷

The district court granted Martinelli's motion to proceed in forma pauperis and referred the case to a United States magistrate. After a hearing on appellee's motion for a temporary restraining order, the magistrate decided to treat Martinelli's section 1983 complaint as a petition for habeas corpus challenging conditions of confinement. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254. The magistrate then: (1) enjoined Wainwright and Gispert to issue Martinelli a "kosher card" that would permit him to take his meals in the pork-free cafeteria line; (2) enjoined appellants from transferring Martinelli out of the DCI during the pendency of this action; (3) dismissed Sgt. Savoia and Lt. Mowery as defendants because they were unnecessary parties for injunctive relief; and (4) appointed an attorney to represent Martinelli. The magistrate reserved ruling on the question of the beard and facial hair rules pending a final hearing, but he cautioned appellants that "no punitive action may be taken against Mr. Martinelli because of the filing of this lawsuit." ⁸

After the final hearing, the magistrate found that Martinelli has a constitutionally-protected interest in his diet, facial appearance, and beard length that exceeds the state's interest in regulating these practices. The magistrate went on to conclude that: (1) Martinelli has a present, sincere and deeply-rooted religious conviction that he should not eat pork or foods mixed with pork; (2) Martinelli has a present, sincere and deeply-rooted religious conviction that he should not shave his facial hair nor cut the hair of his head; and (3) Martinelli had exhausted state remedies because any further invocation of administrative remedies would have been futile. The magistrate accordingly preliminarily enjoined appellants from enforcing the hair length and beard regulation against Martinelli and ordered that Martinelli be allowed to take all of his meals in the pork-free cafeteria line. ⁹ The magistrate also ordered that Martinelli be immediately removed from disciplinary confinement, and recommended to the district court that the injunctions be made permanent.

After timely objections were taken to the magistrate's report and recommendations, the parties stipulated to the evidence submitted before the magistrate and the district court heard closing arguments on the merits of the action. Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(a)(2). Although the court agreed with the magistrate's finding that Martinelli was a sincere believer in the Greek Orthodox religion and that one of the tenets of his religion is that he must grow a beard and wear his hair long, the district court determined that Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979), and Shabazz v. Barnauskas, 600 F.Supp. 712 (M.D.Fla.1985) (Shabazz II ), require that the prisoner's rights be balanced against prison objectives. Applying the two-part test articulated in Shabazz II, ¹⁰ the court concluded that although the shaving and hair length regulations further the state's interest in security, prohibiting Martinelli from growing a beard is not the least restrictive alternative because other prisoners are allowed to grow short beards for medical reasons. ¹¹ The court therefore enjoined appellants to permit Martinelli to grow a beard to one-quarter inch in length in conformity with the medical exemption to the shaving requirement, ¹² and prohibited appellants from placing Martinelli in disciplinary confinement for growing such a beard. ¹³

With respect to the dietary issue, the district court concluded that the state did not have to provide Martinelli with a diet strictly conforming to his religious beliefs. The court enjoined appellants to allow Martinelli to eat at least one meal a day in the pork-free diet line, ¹⁴ but refused to order appellants to provide either the specific items requested by Martinelli or a full kosher diet.

II. ANALYSIS

Two primary inquiries must be made in order to evaluate an inmate's claim that a prison practice infringes upon his or her constitutionally-protected religious freedoms. The trier of fact first must determine whether the prisoner is sincere in his or her asserted religious beliefs. Shabazz v. Barnauskas, 598 F.2d 345, 347 (5th Cir.1979); Furqan v. Georgia State Bd. of Offender Rehabilitation, 554 F.Supp. 873, 876 (N.D.Ga.1982), aff'd, 727 F.2d 1115 (11th Cir.1984). Where the prisoner is found to be insincere in asserting the religious convictions, the claim is deemed "so facially idiosyncratic that neither a hearing nor justification by the state for its rule [are] required." Shabazz I, 598 F.2d at 347. Cf. Brown v. Wainwright, 419 F.2d 1376 (5th Cir.1970); Brooks v. Wainwright, 428 F.2d 652 (5th Cir.1970).

Appellants contend that the district court erred in finding that Martinelli's religious beliefs regarding hair and beard growing are deeply-rooted tenets of the Greek Orthodox religion. Although our prior cases have not expressly imposed a requirement that the plaintiff demonstrate that his or her behavior is deeply-rooted in religious belief, the district court found support for such a requirement in Shabazz II. ¹⁵

We conclude that proof of a connection between the allegedly protected practices and religious beliefs is properly considered an element of the plaintiff's proof that he or she is sincere in asserting that the beliefs are protected by the free exercise clause. There is no separate requirement that the claim be "deeply-rooted" in religious beliefs. ¹⁶ Although it is true that in order to have the protection of the free exercise clause a plaintiff's claims must be rooted in religious beliefs, ¹⁷ Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 215, 92 S.Ct. 1526, 1533, 32 L.Ed.2d 15 (1972), Thomas v. Review Bd. of Indiana Employment Sec. Div., 450 U.S. 707, 713, 101 S.Ct. 1425, 1430, 67 L.Ed.2d 624 (1981), Theriault v. Carlson, 495 F.2d 390, 394 (5th Cir.1974), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 871, 98 S.Ct. 216, 54 L.Ed.2d 150 (1977), the Supreme Court has admonished federal courts not to sit as arbiters of religious orthodoxy. See Thomas, 450 U.S. at 716, 101 S.Ct. at 1431 ("[I]t is not within the judicial function to inquire whether the petitioner or his fellow worker more correctly perceived the commands of their common faith. Courts are not arbiters of scriptural interpretation."); Fowler v. Rhode Island, 345 U.S. 67, 69, 73 S.Ct....