Court Opinion

ID: 9910156
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-12-14 21:00:53.293927+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:51:12.217297
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 22-6273      Doc: 21         Filed: 12/13/2023     Pg: 1 of 4

                                             UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                               No. 22-6273

        COREY DELON GREENE,

                             Plaintiff - Appellant,

                      v.

        KENNETH LASSITER, Director of Prisons, NCDPS, in his individual capacity and
        official capacity; TIM MOOSE, Chief Deputy Secretary, NCDPS, in his individual
        capacity and official capacity; TODD ISHEE, Commissioner of Prisons, NCDPS, in
        his individual capacity and official capacity; SARAH COBB, Deputy Director of
        Prisons, NCDPS, in her individual capacity and official capacity; BETTY BROWN,
        Director of Chaplaincy Services, NCDPS, in her individual capacity and official
        capacity; CHRIS RICH, SRG Coordinator, NCDPS, in his individual capacity and
        official capacity,

                             Defendants - Appellees.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at
        Asheville. Martin K. Reidinger, Chief District Judge. (1:19-cv-00224-MR)

        Submitted: June 22, 2023                                    Decided: December 13, 2023

        Before DIAZ, Chief Judge, RUSHING, Circuit Judge, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit
        Judge.

        Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion. Judge Rushing dissents.
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        Corey D. Greene, Appellant Pro Se.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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        PER CURIAM:

               Corey Delon Greene appeals the district court’s orders in this 42 U.S.C. § 1983

        action granting summary judgment to Defendants on his claims under the First Amendment

        and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc

        to 2000cc-5 (“RLUIPA”), and denying his Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) motion to alter or amend

        the judgment. We vacate and remand.

               Greene is a North Carolina state prisoner who adheres to a belief system called

        Nation of Gods and Earths (“NGE”). In the district court, Greene amended his pro se

        complaint to specify that NGE “is a God centered culture” that must not be “misconstrued

        as religion. This is a central tenet to the culture.” E.R. 239. The district court interpreted

        this statement as a binding judicial admission that foreclosed relief under RLUIPA and the

        First Amendment, entering summary judgment for Defendants on different grounds than

        they asserted in their motion.

               We hold that the district court erred in construing Greene’s pro se statement as a

        relief-foreclosing judicial admission.     Greene’s statement wasn’t an “intentional and

        unambiguous waiver[] that release[d] the opposing party from its burden to prove the facts

        necessary to establish the waived conclusion of law.” Minter v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.,

        762 F.3d 339, 347 (4th Cir. 2014) (cleaned up). To the contrary, Greene has consistently

        maintained that he asserts rights under RLUIPA and the First Amendment for being denied

        the ability to practice his faith or belief system, even if NGE eschews the label of “religion.”

        And in RLUIPA, Congress “defined ‘religious exercise’ capaciously” and “mandated that

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        this concept ‘shall be construed in favor of a broad protection of religious exercise.’” Holt

        v. Hobbs, 547 U.S. 352, 358 (2015) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-3).

               Our review of the record shows that there may be at least an open factual question

        about whether NGE qualifies as a religion for RLUIPA and First Amendment purposes,

        making summary judgment inappropriate. Cf. Miles v. Guice, No. 5:13-CT-3193-FL, 2018

        WL 505071, at *5 (E.D.N.C. Jan. 22, 2018) (denying defendants’ motion for summary

        judgment and holding that North Carolina prisoner plaintiff established NGE is a religion

        for RLUIPA and First Amendment purposes); Coward v. Robinson, 276 F. Supp. 3d 544,

        567 (E.D. Va. 2017) (finding after a bench trial that a prisoner plaintiff proved NGE was

        entitled to protections under RLUIPA and the free-exercise clause despite rejecting the

        “religion” label).

               We therefore vacate the district court’s entry of summary judgment and remand for

        further proceedings. And we dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal

        contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would

        not aid the decisional process.

                                                                     VACATED AND REMANDED

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