O'Lone, Administrator, Leesburg Prison Complex v. Estate of Shabazz
United States Supreme Court
482 U.S. 342 (1987)
- Written by Kyli Cotten, JD
Facts
Two inmates (plaintiffs) who were incarcerated at the Leesburg Prison Complex (defendant) were members of the Islamic faith. For efficiency purposes, while prisoners completed their work assignments, prison officials (defendants) adopted a policy that precluded inmates from returning to the main prison building until the end of their work shift. Consequently, Muslim inmates were prevented from attending Friday Jumu’ah services. The inmates filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the policy violated their free-exercise rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The district court held that the infringement of said rights was reasonably related to legitimate penological objectives. On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the holding of the district court, finding that the prison officials had a burden to prove that no reasonable method existed to accommodate the prisoners without security or logistical problems. The prison officials filed a petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Rehnquist, C.J.)
Dissent (Brennan, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
