Opinion ID: 718816
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Congressional Intent and the Case Law Background

Text: 18 The stated purpose of RFRA is to restore the broad applicability of the compelling interest test established in Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 83 S.Ct. 1790, 10 L.Ed.2d 965 (1960), and Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 92 S.Ct. 1526, 32 L.Ed.2d 15 (1972), which was substantially circumscribed by Employment Div., Dep't of Human Resources v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872, 110 S.Ct. 1595, 108 L.Ed.2d 876 (1990). The Act states: 19 (b) Purposes 20 The purposes of this chapter are-- 21 (1) to restore the compelling interest test as set forth in Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 83 S.Ct. 1790, 10 L.Ed.2d 965 (1963), and Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 92 S.Ct. 1526, 32 L.Ed.2d 15 (1972), and to guarantee its application in all cases where free exercise of religion is substantially burdened ... 22 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb(b). 23 (b) Exception 24 Government may substantially burden a person's exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person-- 25 (1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and 26 (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest. 27 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1(b). Congress was obviously attempting to create a statutory buffer around a more limited constitutional right. Cf. Katzenbach v. Morgan, 384 U.S. 641, 653-54, 86 S.Ct. 1717, 1724-25, 16 L.Ed.2d 828 (1966) (implying that Congress has the power to create rights not recognized by the Supreme Court). That intent was manifest in the statutory language restoring the compelling interest test. 28 The text of RFRA, however, does not elaborate on how the compelling interest test is to be applied. Nowhere in the statute does Congress state that the test is to be construed in precisely the same manner in varying factual scenarios and contexts. By referring to the compelling interest test, Congress obviously intended for courts to look for guidance to those cases employing that term. Astoria Fed. S & L Ass'n v. Solimino, 501 U.S. 104, 108, 111 S.Ct. 2166, 2169, 115 L.Ed.2d 96 (1991) (Congress legislates against the background of federal common law principles). 29 The Supreme Court has historically applied the compelling interest standard somewhat differently depending on the context in which the protected right arose. Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 409-10, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 1809-10, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974) (First Amendment guarantees must be 'applied in light of the special characteristics of the ... environment.' ) (quoting Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 506, 89 S.Ct. 733, 736, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969)). This is notably true in the prison context. Indeed, the legislative history of RFRA expressly assumes that courts will apply RFRA in the prison context within the framework of prior case law. Both congressional committees charged with consideration of the legislation clearly intended the courts to continue to afford deference to the judgment of prison officials. 30 The intent of the act is to restore [the] traditional protection afforded to prisoners' claims prior to O'Lone, not to impose a more rigorous standard than the one that was applied.... Accordingly, the committee expects that the courts will continue the tradition of giving due deference to the experience and expertise of prison and jail administrators in establishing necessary regulations and procedures to maintain good order, security and discipline, consistent with considerations of costs and limited resources.... At the same time, however, inadequately formulated prison regulations and policies grounded on mere speculation, exaggerated fears, or post-hoc rationalizations will not suffice to meet the act's requirements. 31 S. REP. NO. 111, 103d Cong., 1st Sess. 10, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1993 pp. 1892, 1899. 32 Therefore, the compelling governmental interest test should be applied to all cases where the exercise of religion is substantially burdened; however, the test should not be construed more stringently or more leniently than it was prior to Smith .... Prior to 1987, courts evaluated free exercise challenges by prisoners under the compelling governmental interest test. The courts considered the religiously inspired exercise, as well as the difficulty of the prison officials' task of maintaining order and protecting the safety of prison employees, visitors and inmates. Strict scrutiny of prison regulations did not automatically assure prisoners of success in court. 33 H.R.REP. NO. 88, 103d Cong., 1st Sess. 8; see also 139 CONG.REC. § 14362-14365 (daily ed. Oct. 26, 1993) (statement of Sen. Hatch). 34 On June 9, 1987, the Supreme Court in O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342, 107 S.Ct. 2400, 96 L.Ed.2d 282 (1987), articulated an unadorned rational basis test for the evaluation of prison regulations challenged under the Free Exercise Clause. RFRA's legislative history contains some evidence that Congress may have intended to restore the standard for the protection of prisoner Free Exercise rights to where it stood prior to the Court's decision in O'Lone. However, even prior to O'Lone, the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts applied the compelling interest test in the context of prisoners' Free Exercise or Free Speech claims by recognizing the special circumstances of the prison context, including recognition of the state's substantial interest in prison security and order and of the substantial deference due the judgment of prison officials with respect thereto. The primary reason for this is the more limited nature of the First Amendment rights enjoyed by prisoners after incarceration. In Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S. 817, 822, 94 S.Ct. 2800, 2804, 41 L.Ed.2d 495 (1974), for example, the Court noted that [i]n the First Amendment context ... a prison inmate retains those First Amendment rights that are not inconsistent with his status as a prisoner or with the legitimate penological objectives of the corrections system. Accord Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc., 433 U.S. 119, 125, 97 S.Ct. 2532, 2535, 53 L.Ed.2d 629 (1977). See also Cruz v. Beto, 405 U.S. 319, 321, 92 S.Ct. 1079, 1081, 31 L.Ed.2d 263 (1972); Price v. Johnston, 334 U.S. 266, 285, 68 S.Ct. 1049, 1060, 92 L.Ed. 1356 (1948); Bradbury v. Wainwright, 718 F.2d 1538, 1540-41 (11th Cir.1983). 35 In cases involving constitutional challenges to prison regulations, including those implicating the free exercise of religion, the Supreme Court has long made clear that federal courts must afford substantial deference to the judgment of prison authorities. 8 See Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987); Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979); Jones, 433 U.S. 119, 97 S.Ct. 2532, 53 L.Ed.2d 629 (1977); Pell, 417 U.S. 817, 94 S.Ct. 2800, 41 L.Ed.2d 495 (1974); Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974); Cruz, 405 U.S. 319, 92 S.Ct. 1079, 31 L.Ed.2d 263 (1972). 9 In evaluating prisoners' constitutional rights claims that challenge assertions by prison officials that the inmates' rights must yield before the state's legitimate penological interests, courts have accorded wide-ranging deference [to prison administrators] in the adoption and execution of policies and practices that in their judgment are needed to preserve internal order and discipline and to maintain institutional security. Bell, 441 U.S. at 547, 99 S.Ct. at 1878; accord Jones, 433 U.S. at 128, 97 S.Ct. at 2539; Martinez, 416 U.S. at 404-05, 94 S.Ct. at 1807; Cruz, 405 U.S. at 321, 92 S.Ct. at 1081. Such deference is especially appropriate with respect to the primary state interest involved in this case--the maintenance of peace and security within the prison facility. Pell, 417 U.S. at 823, 94 S.Ct. at 2804 (Central to all other corrections goals is the institutional consideration of the internal security within the corrections facilities.). The justifications for this deference include the complexity of prison management, the fact that responsibility therefor is necessarily vested in prison officials, and the fact that courts are ill-equipped to deal with such problems. Martinez, 416 U.S. at 404-05, 94 S.Ct. at 1807. 36 The standard for evaluating prisoner constitutional rights claims was initially articulated by the Supreme Court in 1974 in Martinez. 37 First, the regulation or practice in question must further an important or substantial governmental interest unrelated to the suppression of expression.... Second, the limitation of First Amendment freedoms must be no greater than is necessary or essential to the protection of the particular governmental interest involved. 38 Martinez, 416 U.S. at 413, 94 S.Ct. at 1811. The two prongs of the Martinez standard correspond to the two prongs of the compelling interest test as it has been articulated by the Court in other contexts: infringement on such constitutional rights is justified only by a compelling state interest and only when the regulation at issue is the least restrictive means for satisfying that interest. Because the first prong is unquestionably satisfied in this case, and indeed is conceded by the plaintiffs, we focus on the second prong. 39 The Court's holding in Martinez teaches that the compelling interest test is to be employed by recognizing the special circumstances of the prison context, including recognition of the state's substantial interest in prison security and order and of the substantial deference due the judgment of prison officials with respect thereto. Martinez, 416 U.S. at 404-05, 94 S.Ct. at 1807. The Court noted that although it was applying the compelling interest test, 40 This does not mean, of course, that prison administrators may be required to show with certainty that adverse consequences would flow from the failure to censor a particular letter. Some latitude in anticipating the probable consequences of allowing certain speech in a prison environment is essential to the proper discharge of an administrator's duty. 41 Id. at 414, 94 S.Ct. at 1812. 10 Similarly, in Bell v. Wolfish, the Court reemphasized the wide-ranging deference to be accorded the judgment of prison officials. 42 Such considerations are peculiarly within the province and professional expertise of corrections officials, and, in the absence of substantial evidence in the record to indicate that the officials have exaggerated their response to these considerations, courts should ordinarily defer to their expert judgment in such matters. 43 Bell, 441 U.S. at 547-48, 99 S.Ct. at 1879 (quoting Pell, 417 U.S. at 827, 94 S.Ct. at 2806). 44 We recognize that, following the Martinez decision, the constitutional standard employed by the Supreme Court continued to evolve in the direction of a rational basis standard. 11 We also recognize that it is far from clear which precise point in this evolution Congress intended to select as the appropriate analysis for the application of RFRA in a prison context. We need not in this case decide this precise point, because we can assume arguendo that the appropriate standard is the one set forth in Martinez, which articulates the appropriate standard in the formulation most favorable to the plaintiffs, as compared to the formulation found in the cases that followed Martinez. Applying that standard, tempered by the deference due prison officials that Martinez commands, we readily conclude that Rule 33-3.012 passes muster under RFRA, as discussed more fully below. Accordingly, we need not and do not in this case decide if Congress intended a somewhat less demanding standard like the one that evolved in the cases that follow Martinez and predate O'Lone. 45