DISCLAIMER: The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
131401P.pdf 04/25/2014 Native American Council, etc. v. Douglas Weber
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 13-1401
and No: 13-2745
U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota - Sioux Falls
[PUBLISHED] [Bright, Author, with Bye and Smith]
Prisoner case - Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. In
action challenging the South Dakota Department of Corrections' policy
prohibiting tobacco use by Native American inmates during religious
activities, the district court did not err in concluding the ban violated
the inmates' rights under the Act as the ban substantially burdened
exercise of the inmates' religious practices and beliefs; fact that some
practitioners of the Lakota religion would consider red willow bark a
sufficient alternative to tobacco does not undermine the district court's
decision; even if the ban served compelling government interests in
security and order, a ban on tobacco use was not the least restrictive
means of achieving those interests, and the district court did not err in
enjoining the policy; the scope of the district court's remedial order
went no further than was necessary to remedy the violation, and the
remedial order is affirmed.