United States Seventh Circuit

In a prisoner civil rights action, district court's dismissal of plaintiff's complaint for failure to state a claim is reversed and remanded where plaintiff's First Amendment free exercise claim should not have been dismissed as his claim that defendant denied him religious articles and the opportunity to attend Mass without adequate penological justification was plausible on its face. Dismissal of plaintiff's access to courts claim is affirmed, and on remand the district court should also permit plaintiff to amend his complaint to add a specific claim under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

Appellate Information

• Argued 01/28/2009
• Decided 04/01/2009
• Published 04/01/2009

Judges

• RIPPLE, Circuit Judge., Before BAUER, RIPPLE and TINDER, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Sarah A. Huck, Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren, Milwaukee, WI, for Plaintiff-Appellant.