The Court of Appeals erred in placing the burden on prison officials to disprove the availability of alternative methods of accommodating prisoners' religious rights. That approach fails to reflect the respect and deference the Constitution allows for the judgment of prison administrators.
O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342 (1987), was a
U.S. Supreme Court decision involving the constitutionality of prison regulations. The court ruled that it was not a violation of the
Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to deprive an inmate of attending a religious service for "legitimate penological interests."
Further reading
Rachanow, Shelly S. (1998). "The Effect of O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz on the Free Exercise Rights of Prisoners". Journal of Church & State. 40: 125–148.
doi:
10.1093/jcs/40.1.125.
ISSN0021-969X.
Rigoli, L. M. (1990). ""Power Exercised in the Shadows": O'Lone v. Shabazz as a Signal to the Court's Return to Interpretivism in Institutional Reform Litigation". New England Journal on Crime and Civil Confinement. 16: 141.
The Court of Appeals erred in placing the burden on prison officials to disprove the availability of alternative methods of accommodating prisoners' religious rights. That approach fails to reflect the respect and deference the Constitution allows for the judgment of prison administrators.
O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342 (1987), was a
U.S. Supreme Court decision involving the constitutionality of prison regulations. The court ruled that it was not a violation of the
Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to deprive an inmate of attending a religious service for "legitimate penological interests."
Further reading
Rachanow, Shelly S. (1998). "The Effect of O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz on the Free Exercise Rights of Prisoners". Journal of Church & State. 40: 125–148.
doi:
10.1093/jcs/40.1.125.
ISSN0021-969X.
Rigoli, L. M. (1990). ""Power Exercised in the Shadows": O'Lone v. Shabazz as a Signal to the Court's Return to Interpretivism in Institutional Reform Litigation". New England Journal on Crime and Civil Confinement. 16: 141.