Jones v. Meinzer, No. 13-3677 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseIn 2012, Arkansas inmate Jones filed suit under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, challenging the Department of Correction’s (ADC’s) grooming policy. The district court granted summary judgment for defendants, relying on an Eighth Circuit decision, Holt. While appeal was pending, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Holt, and reversed, holding that ADC’s grooming policy substantially burdened the plaintiff inmate’s exercise of religion. The Eighth Circuit granted a motion to supplement the record on appeal with ADC’s new grooming policy, effective 2015. After holding that Jones’s appeal has not been plainly mooted by the new grooming policy, the court declined to reach the merits and remanded to the district court to consider Jones’s complaint in light of the new grooming policy and the Supreme Court’s decision.
Court Description: Per Curiam - Before Wollman, Smith and Benton, Circuit Judges] Prisoner case - Prisoner civil rights. Plaintiff's action challenging the Department of Correction's grooming policy was not moot in light of the Department's adoption of a new policy following Holt v. Hobbs, 135 S. ct 853 (Jan. 20, 2015); remanded to the district court for further proceedings in light of Holt.
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