''Cutter v. Wilkinson'', 544 U.S. 709 (2005), was a
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
case in which the Court held that, under the
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), facilities that accept federal funds cannot deny prisoners accommodations that are necessary to engage in activities for the practice of their own
religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
beliefs.
RLUIPA prohibited the
federal government
A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
from imposing a substantial burden on prisoners' freedom of religion. Five residents of an
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
prison, which included two adherents of
Asatru, a minister of the
white supremacist Church of Jesus Christ–Christian, a
Wicca
Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...
n and a
Satanist filed suit. The men stated in federal district court that prison officials violated RLUIPA by failing to accommodate the inmates' exercise of their "nonmainstream" religions. Prison officials argued that the act "improperly advanced religion and thus violated the First Amendment's establishment clause which prohibited government from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion." The district court had originally rejected that argument and ruled for the inmates. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals had reversed the decision.
Question presented
Did a federal law prohibiting government from burdening prisoners' religious exercise violate the First Amendment's establishment clause?
Decision of the Court
The Court returned a unanimous opinion, written by
Justice Ginsburg, with a concurring opinion by
Justice Thomas. Ruling in favor of the inmates, the Court held that, on its face,
RLUIPA made an accommodation allowed by the First Amendment. The Court noted that constitutional problems could arise if RLUIPA were "enforced improperly and religious prisoners received favored treatment, or if religious exercise and security concerns were not properly balanced."
See also
*
Religion in United States prisons
References
External links
*
Duke Law School page on Cutter v. Wilkinson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutter v. Wilkinson
2005 in religion
2005 in United States case law
Ásatrú in the United States
Establishment Clause case law
Minority rights
Penal system in the United States
Satanism in the United States
United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court
White supremacy in the United States
Wicca in the United States
United States Supreme Court cases
2000s in modern paganism