Opinion ID: 163835
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the religious discrimination claim

Text: The district court dismissed as frivolous under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i) and dismissed with prejudice Suarez’s claim that the Board discriminates on the basis of religion, and we review such decisions for abuse of discretion. See McWilliams v. Colorado, 121 F.3d 573, 574–75 (10th Cir. 1997). The district court found that Suarez’s allegations were unsupported by specific facts and did not contain a claim that he had been personally injured by the alleged religious discrimination. Suarez, however, made additional factual allegations in his opening brief before this court, from which we conclude he could have amended his complaint to demonstrate he had standing to assert viable Establishment Clause and Equal Protection Clause claims. See Reynoldson v. Shillinger, 907 F.2d 124, 126 (10th Cir. 1990) (holding that a pro se prisoner’s complaint should not be dismissed without leave to amend a potentially curable defect in standing). Here, however, Suarez never requested leave to amend his religious discrimination claim in any post-judgment motion before the district court. When his complaint was dismissed, Suarez did not file a motion to alter or amend the judgment under Rule 59(e) or for relief from the judgment under Rule -8- 60(b). See Curley v. Perry, 246 F.3d 1278, 1284 (10th Cir. 2001) (noting that litigants have post-judgment procedural safeguards to avoid erroneous sua sponte dismissals of complaints under § 1915). Under these circumstances, we ordinarily would affirm the district court’s dismissal of Suarez’s religious discrimination claim. Our disposition of a related case, however, counsels us to remand this issue to the district for a hearing. In Longyear v. Utah Bd. of Pardons & Parole, No. 02-4159, 2003 WL 21308900 (10th Cir. June 5, 2003) (unpublished), the defendant, Longyear, also a Utah state prisoner, raised a religious discrimination claim identical to Suarez’s. Id. at . As in Suarez’s case, the district court dismissed Longyear’s religious discrimination claim because it failed to cite specific facts in support of the allegation. Although we concluded in Longyear’s case that it was not appropriate for the district court to have dismissed the complaint with prejudice, we affirmed the district court’s dismissal because Longyear failed to file post-judgment motions under Rule 59(e) or Rule 60(b) seeking to amend his complaint to plead his religious discrimination claim with greater specificity. Id. After our Order and Judgment in Longyear’s case was entered, Longyear filed a petition for rehearing. In it, he claims that he could not have filed the post-judgment motions we cited because he was not aware that such motions could be made. He claims he was ignorant of the possibility of making the -9- motions because the legal materials made available to him in prison do not include the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. We have entered an order in Longyear’s case remanding it to the district court for the sole purpose of holding a hearing and making findings on the question of whether Longyear had access to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. If he did not, we have ordered the district court to excuse his failure to file Rule 59(e) or 60(b) motions and permit Longyear to amend the religious discrimination claim in his complaint. If he did have access to the Rules, we have instructed the district court to enter an order indicating that Longyear’s failure to file the relevant post-judgement motions is not excused. In that event, the district court’s order of dismissal will stand pursuant to our initial Order and Judgment in Longyear’s case. We believe that we should take the same course with respect to Suarez’s religious discrimination claim. As we have stated, it is virtually identical to the claim made by Longyear, it was dismissed by the district court for the same reason that Longyear’s claim was dismissed, and we have no doubt that if we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Suarez’s discrimination claim with prejudice, Suarez will file a petition for rehearing stating that he, too, did not have access to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s dismissal of Suarez’s religious discrimination claim and remand to the district court for a hearing and to make - 10 - findings regarding whether Suarez had access to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and specifically Rules 59 and 60. If the district court finds that Suarez did not have access to those rules, then the court should conclude that his failure to make post-judgment motions seeking leave to amend his religious discrimination claim is excused. In that case, the district court should permit Suarez to replead his religious discrimination claim with greater specificity. If, however, the district court finds that Suarez did have access to Rules 59 and 60, the court may reenter an order dismissing the religious discrimination claim with prejudice.