Loving v. Morton (2d Cir.)
Franklin Loving was subjected on multiple occasions to medical examinations that violated his religious beliefs requiring him to maintain physical privacy. He sought relief under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which broadly protects prisoners’ religious exercise. But the Second Circuit’s precedent prohibited monetary damages for RLUIPA claims brought against individual state officers, leaving many prisoners who suffer violations of their religious beliefs without a remedy.
Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic filed an amicus brief on behalf of CLEAR, the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty, and the Sikh Coalition, urging the Second Circuit to correct that precedent. The brief demonstrates that RLUIPA’s text broadly authorizes appropriate relief, including damages. As the brief explains, monetary damages are particularly important to prevent strategic mooting of prisoners’ claims and to protect religious minorities in prisons.
Read Our Brief
- Amicus Brief (2d Cir.) (Apr. 27, 2023)
Learn More About Our Work
- "Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Clinic represents Sikh, Jewish, and Muslim groups defending a Muslim inmate's religious rights" (May 11, 2023)
Court Decision
Trial Court (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York)
- Opinion & Order (July 27, 2022)