General
SCOTUS Brief Holt v Hobbs (2014)
Supreme Court of the United States Brief for Gregory Houston Holt, petitioner, v Ray Hobbs, Director Arkansas Department of Corrections Amici Curiae Brief in support of the petitioner.
Religious practice is a vital rehabilitative tool for many prisoners and an effective means of reducing prison violence and lowering rates of recidivism. Of course, religious liberty for prisoners is more than just good public policy, it is a fundamental right. The freedom to practice and profess one’s religious beliefs is a basic human right that the framers sought to protect. This Nation was founded on the principle that all manner of faith communities would be free not just to exist but to thrive in the diverse fabric of American life. Amici are beneficiaries of that legacy.
Amici are religious organizations from a variety of faith traditions that support religious liberty for people of all faiths, including people behind bars. As such, amici have a keen interest in the Court’s resolution of this case.
Today religious freedom is among our Nation’s most prized civil liberties. And while, in the context of correctional institutions, certain freedoms understandably must be curtailed to preserve order and safety, the framework articulated by Congress in the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) accounts for order and safety concerns. For all of the reasons stated by petitioner, which amici support and hereby adopt, such concerns are not implicated where, as here, petitioner, an observant Muslim, seeks merely to grow a one-half inch beard in accordance with his religious beliefs. Concluding otherwise would erode RLUIPA and open the door to further limiting protections of religious exercise on both sides of prison walls.
Amici, as communities of faith from diverse religious traditions, are committed to safeguarding religious liberty for all citizens, including prisoners.