RLUIPA.org
6th Circuit rules against Hovenaar again
In 2004, in Hovenaar v. Lazaroff, the Sixth Circuit rejected a Native American's RLUIPA challenge to Ohio hair-length regulations summarily, based on the prior Sixth Circuit decision in Cutter finding RLUIPA unconstitutional. But when the Supreme Court reversed Cutter and upheld RLUIPA, the Court also vacated and remanded the Sixth Circuit's decision in Hovenaar.
Today, the Sixth Circuit issued its second decision in Hovenaar, rejecting the plaintiff's claim once again, this time on the merits. Specifically, the Sixth Circuit ruled that the district court had failed to show enough deference to the decision of prison administrators that their across-the-board ban on long hair was the "least restrictive means" of serving their "compelling interest" of prison security.
Click here for the full opinion.