West v. Carr
| Decision Date | 26 October 2021 |
| Docket Number | 17-cv-335-wmc |
| Parties | RUFUS WEST, Plaintiff, v. KEVIN CARR, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Wisconsin |
RUFUS WEST, Plaintiff,
v.
KEVIN CARR, Defendant.
No. 17-cv-335-wmc
United States District Court, W.D. Wisconsin
October 26, 2021
OPINION AND ORDER
WILLIAM M. CONLEY District Judge
Plaintiff Rufus West a/k/a Mansa Lutalo Iyapo, [1] an inmate at Green Bay Correctional Institution (“Green Bay”), is proceeding in this lawsuit against defendant Kevin Carr in his official capacity as Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (“DOC”) for alleged violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-1, as well as violations of the terms of the parties' 2016 settlement agreement arising out of plaintiff's earlier RLUIPA lawsuit. Specifically, as a devout Muslim, West claims that the DOC's practice of cancelling in-person, congregate worship services and study groups when a Chaplain or other volunteer leader becomes unavailable violates his rights under RLUIPA, as well as breaches his 2016 settlement.
Currently before the court are (1) the DOC's motion for summary judgment (dkt. #42); and (2) West's motion for partial summary judgment (dkt. #50). Having reviewed the evidence of record, the court concludes that the DOC's current policy related to congregate religious programming satisfies the requirements of RLUIPA, while on occasion
its limited cancelations of any religious service specifically because of the absence of a Chaplain or volunteer violated the express terms of the parties' settlement agreement. Further, since entry of injunctive relief is straightforward, closely tracks the facts already considered by this court in deciding plaintiff's RLUIPA claim, and the parties' 2016 Settlement Agreement contemplated that this court would retain jurisdiction for enforcement of non-monetary relief, the court will depart from its usual practice and retain supplemental jurisdiction so far as considering entry of appropriate injunctive relief proportional to defendant's breach. At the same time, the court will relinquish supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiff's claim for monetary damages for the breach, which raise new factual and legal questions not yet considered by this court and expressly reserved for resolution in state court under the Settlement Agreement. Accordingly, as to the narrow question of whether plaintiff is entitled to monetary damages for its material breach of the Settlement Agreement, the court intends to relinquish its supplemental jurisdiction. Before definitively deciding on the appropriate terms of an injunction and relinquishment of jurisdiction over plaintiff's claim for monetary damages without prejudice, however, the court will hear from the parties. Thus, the court will grant in part and deny in part the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, and await further input on the scope of relief.
UNDISPUTED FACTS[2]
A. West's Religious Beliefs and Practices
From April 11, 2014, to February 15, 2019, West was incarcerated at Green Bay. West transferred to Redgranite Correctional Institution (“Redgranite”) for about a year, from February 15, 2019 to March 11, 2020, when he was transferred back to Green Bay. West remains incarcerated at Green Bay.
As a devout Muslim, West adheres to the tenants and practices of Islam. This includes participating in the weekly Friday Jumu'ah prayer services and weekly Talim study groups held at Green Bay. Jumu'ah is a required practice of West's Muslim faith, is to be held every Friday, just after noon, and consists of a sermon and a prayer service. Although the sermon may be conducted in the speaker's native language or Arabic, the prayer service is to be conducted in Arabic. Jumu'ah must also be led by a qualified individual in person, rather than by a pre-recorded video or even a live-stream broadcast.
Consisting of the study of Islam, Talim is also essential to a Muslim's religious development and a key component of learning to practice Islam. Indeed, Talim is considered the primary manner in which Muslims learn to practice their religion, through the teachings of the Koran and Hadith, of Islamic prayers and of the Arabic language.
Although Talim does not need to occur on a specific day or time, it should be observed on a weekly basis.
West claims to be qualified himself to lead both Jumu'ah services and Talim study groups. Without disputing the challenge presented by holding these sessions weekly, especially during COVID, West also maintains that cancellation of either program places an undue burden on his practice of Islam.[3]
B. The DOC's Religious Policies
The DOC's Religious Practices Coordinator Kelli Willard West (“Willard West”) is responsible for providing policy development and guidance for the DOC's inmate religious accommodation. Willard West also serves as the chair of the DOC's Religious Practices Advisory Committee (“RPAC”), and she participates in planning and coordinating interdepartmental and external agency activities related to religious matters.
The Division of Adult Institutions (“DAI”) provides inmates with opportunities to pursue lawful practices of the religion of their choice. However, those opportunities must be consistent with: security practices and principles; the rehabilitative goals of inmates; health and safety; the allocation of limited resources; and the needs of the various correctional institutions and facilitates. DAI attempts to accommodate various religious beliefs by organizing available religious accommodations through a structure of Umbrella Religion Groups (“URGs”), with each group sharing similar beliefs and practices. Although
neither exclusive nor immutable, DAI currently recognizes some eight, formal URGs: Catholic, Eastern Religions, Humanist/Atheist/Agnostic, Islam, Judaism, Native American/American Indian, Pagan, and Protestant/Other Christian.
C. Congregate and non-congregate services in prison
Within this structure, DAI attempts to provide prisoners with regular worship services consistent with their personal faith. At the same time, DAI policy requires congregate religious services (e.g., group worship, study, readings, prayers, choir, drumming) to be facilitated or supervised by a DOC staff member or other community volunteer who can act as the spiritual leader/clergy or chaplain.[4] In this matter, inmates designating the Islamic URG may participate in both Jumu'ah prayer services and Talim study groups.
Worship services in particular must be facilitated by a Chaplain of that faith or by a qualified volunteer. For example, Jumu'ah must be facilitated by an Imam; and a Native American/American Indian sweat lodge must be facilitated by a recognized spiritual leader. These requirements have caused institutions to rely on outside volunteers to come to the institution to lead weekly services. Moreover, when no religious volunteer is available to attend a scheduled religious service, DAI policy prohibits prisoners from leading their own religious services or study groups in light of numerous security concerns associated with prisoner-led worship services, which will be discussed in more detail below. Similarly, study groups may be supervised by a volunteer, Chaplain or other staff member, as scheduled
and directed by the Chaplain/designee, and to avoid an inmate assuming a leadership role or dictating the content of the study group, the institution's other Chaplain or religious volunteer are expected to serve as a “teacher” for the study group.
D. West's prior 2016 Settlement Agreement with DOC
In 2011, West filed a lawsuit in this court challenging a lack of religious accommodations at DOC's Columbia Correctional Institution (“Columbia”), where he was previously incarcerated. West v. Grams, No. 11-cv-687 (W.D. Wis.) (“the '687 case”). Among other things in that lawsuit, West claimed the DOC violated his rights under RLUIPA in cancelling Jumu'ah and Talim whenever a qualified chaplain or volunteer was unavailable to act as a leader. West also sought injunctive relief in the form of permitting Muslim inmates to lead Jumu'ah, Talim, and the Eid al-Fitr celebration at the end of Ramadan if no one else is available to do so. More narrowly, West further asked the court to prohibit defendants from cancelling Jumu'ah, Talim, and Eid al-Fitr when an outside Islamic volunteer is unavailable.
On November 8, 2013, Magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker granted defendant's motion for summary judgment and dismissed West's lawsuit. In response to West's motion for reconsideration, the court amended the judgment but still dismissed West's RLUIPA claim as moot because he had by then been transferred to a different DOC institution. West next appealed and on April 22, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated the dismissal of his RLUIPA claim regarding cancellation of Islamic services and study groups, finding that West's transfer had not rendered his claim moot. On remand, the district court then recruited Attorney Michael J. Modl to represent
West.
On April 15, 2016, with the assistance of Attorney Modl, West participated in mediation with Magistrate Judge Peter Oppeneer and the parties reached a resolution of West's case. On June 23, 2016, West and the DOC memorialized that resolution in a Settlement Agreement, which included terms acknowledging West's sincere desire to provide system-wide relief related to cancellations of religious services and study groups for all religions. In particular, the Settlement Agreement included two, non-monetary requirements expressly binding the DOC going forward. First, the DOC agreed to the following “Religious Programming Requirement”:
2. NON-MONETARY CONDITIONS.
a. Defendants agree that routinely scheduled congregate religious programming, including Friday services (Jumuah), weekly study groups (Talim), and Eid al-Fitr prayer will not be cancelled for the lack of having a community volunteer or DOC Chaplain of that...
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