Rouser v. White

• Decision Date: 28 October 1996
• Docket Number: No. Civ. S-93-767 LKK/GGH P.,Civ. S-93-767 LKK/GGH P.
• Citation: 944 F.Supp. 1447
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California
• Parties: William ROUSER, Plaintiff, v. Theo WHITE, et al., Defendants.

944 F.Supp. 1447

William ROUSER, Plaintiff, v. Theo WHITE, et al., Defendants.

No. Civ. S-93-767 LKK/GGH P.

United States District Court, E.D. California.

October 28, 1996.

William Rouser, Crescent City, CA, plaintiff in pro. per.

Constance Picciano, Deputy Attorney General, Sacramento, CA, for defendants.

ORDER

KARLTON, Chief Judge Emeritus.

Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se. He filed suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that he is an adherent of the religion of Wicca and that defendant prison officials violated his rights protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.¹ He seeks both injunctive relief and damages.

Pursuant to the local rules of this court, the matter was referred to a magistrate judge. See Local Rule 302(c)(17). The magistrate judge eventually issued Findings and Recommendations, which were premised on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ("RFRA"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb. Defendants filed objections in this court claiming that the statute was unconstitutional. Because they had not made that claim before the magistrate judge, the matter was referred back to him to consider it.

Upon remand, notice was given to the United States that the constitutionality of a federal statute had been called into question. See Local Rule 133(a). The United States then intervened for the limited purpose of defending the federal statute, but took no position as to the merits of plaintiff's claims.

On March 4, 1996, the magistrate judge issued new Findings and Recommendations which, while making the same recommendations, relied on the First Amendment rather than RFRA.² Although opining that the statute was unconstitutional, the magistrate judge determined that he need not reach the issue since the statute was inapplicable to the matter at bar. He premised his conclusion that he need not reach the statute's constitutionality on his analysis that the statute established a higher threshold for requiring a state's justification for restrictions on religious expression than the First Amendment. Both sides objected and asked this court not to adopt the magistrate judge's Findings and Recommendations.

The issues tendered are important, subtle and difficult. Believing that plaintiff's pro se status precluded fully informed briefing, the court invited the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California ("ACLU") to file an amicus curiae brief, to which defendants were permitted to respond. Another round of briefing, including a response by the United States followed, whereupon the matter stood submitted.

I. SCOPE OF REVIEW

A district court judge may designate a magistrate judge to hear and determine any non-dispositive pretrial matters brought by a person seeking habeas relief, see 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A); Local Rule 302(c)(17), and may refer dispositive motions for Findings and Recommendations. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B); Local Rule 302(a) & (c)(17). The standard employed by the district court in reviewing decisions of the magistrate judge depends upon the character of the underlying decision.

Non-dispositive pre-trial motions referred to the magistrate judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) are reviewed under a clearly erroneous or contrary to law standard. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A); Local Rule 303(f); United States v. Raddatz, 447 U.S. 667, 673, 100 S.Ct. 2406, 2411, 65 L.Ed.2d 424 (1980). On the other hand, a magistrate judge's determination concerning matters referred pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) are for the most part reviewed de novo. Thus, the district court reviews de novo those portions of the proposed findings of fact to which objection has been made, 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Commodore Business Machines, Inc., 656 F.2d 1309, 1313 (9th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 920, 102 S.Ct. 1277, 71 L.Ed.2d 461 (1982), and the magistrate judge's conclusions of law, Barilla v. Ervin, 886 F.2d 1514, 1518 (9th Cir.1989) (citing Britt v. Simi Valley Unified School Dist., 708 F.2d 452, 454 (9th Cir.1983)). The court may, however, assume the correctness of that portion of the proposed findings of fact to which no objection has been made and decide the motion on applicable law. See United States v. Remsing, 874 F.2d 614, 617 (9th Cir.1989) (citing Orand v. United States, 602 F.2d 207, 208 (9th Cir.1979)).³

The court is not bound to adopt the magistrate judge's Findings and Recommendations; on the contrary, the court must exercise "sound judicial discretion" in making its own determination on the record. United States v. Raddatz, 447 U.S. at 676, 100 S.Ct. at 2412-13. The court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the magistrate judge's findings or recommendations. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C); Remsing, 874 F.2d at 617.

After the extensive briefing this court has received, I have concluded that I cannot adopt the magistrate judge's conclusions of law. Accordingly, the court proceeds below to its own analysis of the difficult questions this case presents.⁴

II. THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF RFRA⁵

The magistrate judge observed that the Supreme Court applies First Amendment principles upon a finding that a prison regulation "impinges on inmates' constitutional rights." Findings and Recommendations ("F & Rs") at 14 (citing Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 2261-62, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987) and O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342, 107 S.Ct. 2400, 96 L.Ed.2d 282 (1987)). He noted, however, that RFRA speaks in terms of a substantial burden, see 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1(a) ("Government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion"), and concluded that, under RFRA a plaintiff must demonstrate a higher threshold of interference with religious practices before RFRA's "stringent standards" on government interference apply. He then concluded that he need not resolve the issue of the constitutionality of the statute because in cases where the plaintiff had failed to meet what he had determined was the heavier standard of RFRA, then the lighter burden arising under O'Lone and its progeny applied, and the court could thus proceed to resolve the issue on constitutional grounds. F & Rs at 16-17.

The briefing parties have differing views as to whether the case may be resolved without reference to RFRA. The United States contends that because RFRA and the First Amendment "embody different tests or standards, it is foreseeable that a court could find that RFRA does not apply to a particular plaintiff's claims, thereby avoiding the constitutional question...." Supplemental Memorandum of the United States at 3, n. 3. This position conforms to the magistrate judge's view, although it leaves unresolved the issue of whether this is such a case. The ACLU and defendants both contend, but for different reasons, that the question of the constitutionality of RFRA cannot be avoided.

On the one hand, the ACLU argues that the magistrate judge's reading of the statute is faulty, and that RFRA does not require plaintiff to meet a more onerous threshold standard than O'Lone and Turner. On the other hand, defendants argue that "if RFRA is constitutional, then it provides the applicable legal test...." Defendants' Response to Amicus Curiae Brief at 1.

Before addressing the substantive issue, I must consider whether the canon urging avoidance of constitutional questions applies. It is, of course, true that courts should avoid unnecessary resolution of constitutional questions. St. Martin Lutheran Church v. South Dakota, 451 U.S. 772, 780, 101 S.Ct. 2142, 2147, 68 L.Ed.2d 612 (1981); DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Bldg. and Const. Trades Council, 485 U.S. 568, 575, 108 S.Ct. 1392, 1397-98, 99 L.Ed.2d 645 (1988). That principle has no application to the matter at bar, however, since avoiding the issue of the constitutionality of RFRA leads to resolution of plaintiff's claims under the First Amendment. Indeed, to the extent the principle of avoidance is applicable, resolution of plaintiff's claims under the statute is to be preferred to resolution under the Constitution. Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Assoc., 485 U.S. 439, 445-46, 108 S.Ct. 1319, 1323-24, 99 L.Ed.2d 534 (1988).

Moreover, this court must agree with defendants' position that, because the statute provides the prima facie applicable legal test, its initial consideration is required. Put simply, defendants may or may not be right in asserting that the statute is unconstitutional; however, unless it is found unconstitutional the statute supplies the relevant legal standard. In other words, because RFRA provides the prima facie applicable legal standard, it follows that if the magistrate judge is correct that RFRA established a higher threshold standard for plaintiffs seeking to vindicate religious liberty, the court would be obligated to determine whether the Congress could do so without running afoul of the First Amendment. If, on the other hand, the ACLU is right that the statute imposes more stringent standards on the States, the court must determine whether the Congress can do that. In sum, a prerequisite to resolution of the case is a determination of the constitutionality of RFRA. Accordingly, I turn to the question of whether Congress exceeded its power in adopting RFRA.

RFRA was adopted as a response to the decision of a majority of the United States Supreme Court in Employment Division, Dept. of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872, 110 S.Ct. 1595, 108 L.Ed.2d 876 (1990), abandoning the exacting standard which the "Court over the years painstakingly has developed ... to test the constitutionality of a state statute that burdens the free exercise of religion." Id. at 907, 110 S.Ct. at 1615 (Blackmun, J., dissenting).⁶ It is this fact of legislative response to constitutional adjudication which defendants perceive as raising questions as to RFRA's viability. The argument underlying all of the state's contentions is...