Morrison v. Garraghty
| Decision Date | 31 October 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-6540,00-6540 |
| Citation | 239 F.3d 648 |
| Parties | (4th Cir. 2001) GARY DAVID MORRISON, JR., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. DAVID A. GARRAGHTY, Chief Warden; M. C. MILLARD, Associate Warden, Defendants-Appellants, and RONALD J. ANGELONE, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections, Defendant. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Movant. . Argued: |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond.
[Copyrighted Material Omitted] COUNSEL: ARGUED: Pamela Anne Sergeant, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Law Division, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellants. Rebecca Kim Glenberg, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF VIRGINIA FOUNDATION, INC., Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Mark L. Ear-ley, Attorney General, Criminal Law Division, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellants. Rich-ard W. Ferris, Lydia L. King, Third-year Law Student, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF VIRGINIA FOUNDATION, INC., Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.
Before TRAXLER and KING, Circuit Judges, and Alexander WILLIAMS, Jr., United States District Judge for the District of Maryland, sitting by designation.
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Traxler wrote the opinion, in which Judge King and Judge Williams joined.
Gary David Morrison, Jr., an inmate incarcerated at Greensville Correctional Center ("GCC") in Virginia, filed this action under 42 U.S.C.A. S 1983 (West Supp. 2000), claiming that defendants David A. Garraghty, warden of GCC, and M.C. Millard, assistant warden of GCC, violated his rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution by treating him differently from other inmates based solely upon a racial classification. Specifically, Morrison alleged that defendants refused to consider his request to obtain Native American religious items because he is not of Native American heritage. The district court enjoined defendants from refusing to consider Morrison's request for a religious exemption from the personal property restrictions normally applicable to all inmates solely on the basis of Morrison's race. We affirm.
In order to maintain prison security and order, the Virginia Department of Corrections strictly limits the possession of personal property by prison inmates in accordance with Department Operating Procedure ("DOP") 856. However, prison administrators may grant exemptions, on a case-by-case basis, from the personal property restrictions for religious personal property not specifically authorized by DOP 856. In order to evaluate a request for religious personal property, inmates are required to specify their claimed religion, the specific items needed, the purpose for which each item is used, why each item is necessary, and whether each item is mandated by their religion. A religious leader of the professed faith is contacted to verify the relevance of and need for the item, and prison officials take into account the sincerity of the inmate's professed beliefs and the security concerns of the prison in evaluating the specific request for an exemption.
Morrison is not a Native American Indian by birth, nor has he been adopted by a Native American tribe. He is, however, a member of a prisoner group known as HEART "Heritage Examined Around Redman Traditions." HEART is not a religion. The majority of its members at GCC are not Native Americans and, consequently, do not practice any particular tribal-based religion. Nor do HEART members demand to participate in Native American religious ceremonies. Rather, Morrison, like other HEART members, claims to hold beliefs similar to those held by Native Americans practicing a tribal-based Native American religion. For example, Morrison, like many Native American inmates, professes belief in "the creator, mother earth, the sacredness of all living things, that everything has a spirit and is connected." J.A. 92, 100. In other words, Morrison claims not to practice any specific Native American tribal religion, but rather to practice what he terms "Native American Spirituality."
Because Morrison's professed religious beliefs are similar to Native American beliefs, Morrison also wishes to practice rituals similar to those practiced by Native American inmates. To do so, Morrison wishes to possess a number of Native American sacred items which he asserts are as equally necessary for him to practice his religion as they are for Native Americans to practice their own tribal based religions. These items include sage, cedar, sweet grass, kinnikkinnik (sacred tobacco), other sacred herbs, shells, smoking pipes, feathers, beads, animal parts/hides (leather), and dream catchers.
The present controversy centers on a May 14, 1997, memorandum issued to all members of HEART, including Morrison, which reads as follows:
Effective immediately, requests for acquiring or maintaining existing articles of Native American faith will only be considered for those inmates who are bona fide Native Americans. Inmates requesting Native American faith items must be able to provide some type of supportive information to substantiate their heritage. Examples of verification may vary but should consist of one of at least the following:
Inmate should be on the tribal roll of a Native American tribe (specify tribe)
Inmate should have a blood relative who is a Native American (specify name and relation of blood relative to you and their tribe)
Inmate should have a BIA card
* * *
[O]nce you have authenticated your Native American heritage, all requests for articles of faith must be accompanied by a description of specifically how the items are essential to your ability to practice your religion. All items will be considered on an individual basis based on tribal requirements, DOP/IOP 856, and institutional security concerns.
J.A. 179 (emphasis added). The GCC policy could hardly be more plain: a DOP 856 request "for acquiring or maintaining existing articles of Native American faith will only be considered for those inmates who are bona fide Native Americans." J.A. 179. Once an inmate satisfies the threshold requirement of authenticating his Native American heritage, the request will then be considered under the typical, and universally applied, criteria for evaluating a religious exemption request. Consequently, although Morrison and other non-Native American practitioners of Native American religious practices have been allowed to possess at least some Native American religious items in the past, requests for such items are now only considered if the requesting inmate can satisfy the threshold requirement of proving Native American heritage.
Because Morrison could not prove that he is a "bona fide" Native American, his most recent request for Native American religious items was refused. The lack of the appropriate racial lineage was the only reason given for the denial of Morrison's request for a religious exemption from the personal property restrictions; neither security concerns nor a lack of sincerity on the part of Morrison was ever given as a reason. Indeed, in response to his grievance, Morrison was specifically informed that his J.A. 189. And, defendant Millard admitted that sincerity of religious belief was a factor to be weighed only after Native American heritage had been proven.
After implementation of the GCC policy, and defendants' denial of Morrison's request for a religious exemption for various Native American spiritual items under the policy, Morrison filed suit pro se against Ronald Angelone, the Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections, Warden Garraghty and Assistant Warden Millard pursuant to 42 U.S.C.A. S 1983, alleging that the GCC policy of limiting the possession of Native American religious articles to inmates of Native American descent violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Among other things, Morrison sought injunctive relief from further application of the race-based policy to him.
The district court granted summary judgment to defendants in part, dismissing all claims against Angelone and dismissing the First Amendment claim and the claim for monetary damages against Garraghty and Millard. An evidentiary hearing was then held before a magistrate judge on Morrison's remaining equal protection claim against Garraghty and Millard, after which the magistrate judge recommended that "Defendants be enjoined from prohibiting Morrison from obtaining herbs and other religious items based solely upon his lack of membership in the Native American race." J.A. 264. The district court agreed in large part with the magistrate judge's report and recommendation, ultimately concluding that Morrison had established an equal protection violation and entering a narrow injunction prohibiting defendants "from refusing Morrison a religious exemption from the existing property restrictions, available to other inmates, solely on the basis of his lack of membership in the Native American race." J.A. 300. Taking care to point out that this was not tantamount to ordering defendants to allow Morrison to obtain the requested property, the district court emphasized that it was"simply enjoin[ing] the Defendants from using race as the only factor in their initial determination of whether Morrison is entitled to a religious exemption from the existing personal property restrictions." J.A. 300-01. Defendants Garraghty and Millard now appeal.
The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that "[n]o State shall . . . deny to any person within its...
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