On November 10, 1997, an inmate at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Wallkill, New York, filed a pro se lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) against the New York State Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiff asked the Court for declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages, alleging that his constitutional rights had been violated when the prison refused to allow him to receive mailed literature pertaining to his particular religious group.

On March 27, 2002, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald) granted partial summary judgment to the defendants, holding that the prisoner could submit his expert report, but that the prison officials could not submit theirs. The Court also held that the prison officials were entitled to qualified immunity from the prisoner's due process claims. Marria v. Broaddus, 200 F.2d 280 (S.D.N.Y. 2002).

On July 31, 2003, the District Court (Judge Buchwald) granted declaratory and injunctive relief to the plaintiff, holding that the prisoner's beliefs were sincere and religious, and therefore protected by RLUIPA and the U.S. Constitution. Marria v. Broaddus, No. 97-8297, 2003 WL 21782633 (S.D.N.Y. July 31, 2003). The Court ordered the defendants to reevaluate their procedures in light of the Court's order.

After reevaluating their procedures, the defendants produced a set of proposed protocols which the District Court (Judge Buchwald) approved and adopted on July 30, 2004. Marria v. Broaddus, No. 97-8297, 2004 WL 1724984 (S.D.N.Y. July 30, 2004). As all issues were resolved, the Court ordered the case dismissed. The plaintiff appealed. On September 9, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed the appeal.

We have no further information on the proceedings in this case.

Kristen Sagar - 11/10/2006


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