Opinion ID: 212402
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether the Facility is a Jail

Text: Although the Santa Ana detention facility best fits within the definition of a pretrial detention facility, it also falls within the definition of a jail. [6] Like the term pretrial detention facility, because jail is not defined in RLUIPA or CRIPA, we turn to the dictionary. A jail is a building for the confinement of persons held in lawful custody (as for minor offenses or some future judicial proceeding). Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged 1208; see also Black's Law Dictionary 910 (jail is a generic term, used to describe [a] local government's detention center where persons awaiting trial or those convicted of misdemeanors are confined). While RLUIPA requires us to construe it in favor of broad protection of religious exercise, to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of this chapter and the Constitution, 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-3(g), we need not stretch the term jail in the context of the Santa Ana Courthouse holding facility. Looking yet again to the County's own description of the facility, a secure detention facility ... for the confinement of persons solely for the purpose of a court appearance falls squarely within the ordinary, common definition of a jail. Grand Jury Report at 1. The County suggests that, in adopting an expansive definition of jail, all pretrial detention facilities would be subsumed within the statute, with wide-ranging consequences. We are not persuaded by this sky is falling logic. Our role is to interpret the language as written, not to speculate as to the breadth of potential coverage in a case down the road. Under the statute, determining whether a facility is a covered institution is a question of function, not just labeling. It would not be surprising to find functionally identical facilities labeled as a jail in one jurisdiction and a pretrial detention facility in another. Nor is it inconsistent that RLUIPA employs the generic terms jail and pretrial detention facility in a flexible and somewhat overlapping manner to ensure that a broad range of custodial facilities are brought within its reach. This interpretation of RLUIPA's coverage ensures  broad protection of religious exercise, to the maximum extent permitted.  42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-3(g) (emphasis added). Yet the County would have us construe RLUIPA to categorically exclude a pretrial detention facility that holds up to 600 inmates a day simply because it is located in the courthouse and the inmates are confined there for relatively short periods. We do not embrace such a restrictive interpretation in light of the plain language of the statute and the clearly expressed congressional intent.