9th Circuit revives inmate's pro se suit over being required to work with pork in kitchen
A federal appeals court has given a green light to a former inmate’s First Amendment complaint over being required to work with pork as part of his job assignment in an Oregon prison kitchen.
Reversing a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in a pro se lawsuit by Clarence Eugene Jones, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said he can proceed with this free-exercise claim as well as a retaliation claim. Two other free-exercise claims were properly dismissed, the court ruled in its Friday opinion (PDF).
Prison officials had argued they were entitled to qualified immunity. No clear precedent put them on notice, they contended, that Jones, who said in his complaint he is a member of the Nation of Islam, was entitled to religious accommodation concerning food-preparation duties.
The Metropolitan News-Enterprise has a story.
