Appellants' § 1983 claims challenging denial of Native American religious items, mail access procedures, and welfare fund management were affirmed on summary judgment and motion to dismiss.
Outcome: Affirmed for defendant.
What happened
The facts of the case, in plain language.
Holloway did not detail what the practice of his Native American religion requires, nor assert facts showing he was deprived of all opportunity to practice his religion despite denial of sage and sweet grass.
Plaintiffs presented no evidence showing that prison administrators drew distinctions between incoming mail based on anything other than implications for prison security.
The welfare fund claim, accepting all pleaded facts as true, did not state a cognizable cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Warden Norris stated he had done nothing to prevent Holloway from practicing his religion as long as it did not create a security risk or breach prison policy.
What the court decided
Appellants—inmates in the Maximum Security Unit of Arkansas Department of Corrections—sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, challenging denial of Native American religious items (sage and sweet grass), mail access procedures, and welfare fund misuse. The district court granted summary judgment to defendants on the religious and mail claims, and dismissed the welfare claim for failure to state a cause of action. The Eighth Circuit affirmed. On the religious claim, the court found no material factual dispute: appellants failed to specify what their religion required or show total deprivation of religious practice. On mail, the court applied the Turner reasonableness standard and found appellants presented no evidence that officials distinguished mail based on anything other than security implications. On the welfare fund, no cognizable § 1983 claim arose even accepting all facts as true.
- A prisoner asserting a First Amendment religious freedom claim must specify what the practice of his religion requires and must show facts establishing deprivation of all opportunity to practice that religion; conclusory allegations insufficient to create a dispute of material fact do not defeat summary judgment. (*367)
- Prison mail regulations restricting incoming correspondence satisfy constitutional scrutiny under the Turner reasonableness standard when prisoners present no evidence that officials drew distinctions among mail based on anything other than security implications. (*367)
- An inmate's claim that prison officials misused an inmate welfare fund, premised on deprivation of property rights without due process, does not state a cognizable cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (*368)
How the court reached its decision
The court's reasoning, step by step.
Whether denial of a prisoner's Native American religious items (sage and sweet grass) violates the First Amendment right to freedom of religion. Holloway did not detail what the practice of his Native American religion requires, nor did he assert facts showing he was deprived of all opportunity to practice his religion by virtue of officials possessing his sage and sweet grass. Any dispute over whether Warden Norris actually possessed those items was immaterial given the scant and conclusory allegations in the complaint. No genuine issue of material fact existed, and the district court's grant of summary judgment in defendants' favor on the religious freedom claim was affirmed.
Whether prison mail regulations permitting officials to return rule-violating mail to the sender without providing inmates notice or an opportunity to contest the rejection violate due process. Plaintiffs presented no evidence showing prison administrators drew distinctions between incoming mail for any reason other than prison security implications, as asserted by prison officials. Mail delayed while a prisoner was on punitive status involved at most a random misapplication of a reasonable regulation, not a systemic constitutional defect. Little v. Norris, 787 F.2d 1241, 1243-44 (8th Cir. 1986). Plaintiffs raised no genuine issue of material fact as to whether the mail procedures were reasonably related to legitimate penological interests, and summary judgment for defendants was affirmed.
Whether allegations of misuse of an inmate welfare fund, characterized as a deprivation of property rights without due process, state a cognizable claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Taking all pleaded facts as true, the complaint and amended complaint at best asserted a property claim not cognizable under § 1983, as the alleged misuse of the inmate welfare fund did not constitute a deprivation of a federally protected right. Johnson v. Stark, 717 F.2d 1550, 1552 (8th Cir. 1983). The district court's dismissal for failure to state a claim was affirmed because the pleadings did not state a cause of action as a matter of law.
Key quotes from the opinion
Notable passages from the opinion, in the court's own words.
Cases the court relied on
Earlier decisions the court cited as authority for its ruling.
Cases that cite this one
139 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.
- Bozeman v. Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2020)
- Rose Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church v. Church Mutual Insurance Company SI (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2025)
- Davis v. Pulaski County Arkansas (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2021)
- Biddle v. Homes at Granite Mountain (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2021)
- Biddle v. Homes at Granite Mountain (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2021)
- Christman v. New Age Distributing Inc (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2021)
- O'Neal v. Self (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2021)
- Kendrick v. Wright Medical Technology Inc (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2021)
- Watson v. Century Management LLC (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2020)
- Flowers v. American National Property and Casualty Company (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2020)
- Zornes v. Thompson Transportation Inc (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas 2020)
- Baker v. Catlin Specialty Insurance (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2011)
- Roberts v. USCC Payroll Corp. (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2009)
- Leventhal v. Schaffer (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2009)
- Tokheim v. Georgia-Pacific Gypsum LLC (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2009)
- Beekman v. Nestle Purina Petcare Co. (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2009)
- Shannon v. Koehler (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2009)
- Coe v. Northern Pipe Products, Inc. (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2008)
- Wright v. Winnebago Industries, Inc. (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2008)
- Johnson v. American Leather Specialties Corp. (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2008)
- Dahlsten v. Lee (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2008)
- United States v. Hawley (District Court, N.D. Iowa 2008)
- Lower Brule Sioux Tribe v. State of South Dakota John Cooper, Secretary, Division of Game, Fish & Parks for the State of South Dakota (8th Cir. 1997)
- Chester A. Bettis v. Paul Delo, Superintendent Don Roper, Assistant Superintendent, Programs, Pcc (8th Cir. 1994)
- Henderson v. Stewart (8th Cir. 1992)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Full opinion
The complete text of the court's opinion as published.
Opinion of the Court
Winston Holloway, Jeff Arbaugh, Larry Jones and Terry Proctor (collectively, plaintiffs) are inmates housed in the Maximum Security Unit (MSU) of the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC). Plaintiffs filed this prisoner civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that prison chaplains, various prison officials, and the Board of Corrections (collectively, defendants) violated plaintiffs’ rights to freedom of religion, speech and association, and to due process and equal protection. The district court
On appeal, plaintiffs allege that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to the defendants because (1) plaintiff Holloway raised genuine issues of material fact concerning defendants’ denial of his access to Native American religious items, and (2) plaintiffs raised genuine issues of material fact that procedural safeguards were lacking in the prison mail system, causing a violation of plaintiffs’ due process rights to their mail. Plaintiffs further allege that the district court erred in dismissing their claim that defendants misused the inmate welfare fund, arguing that the complaint and amended complaint were sufficient to state a cause of action. We shall address briefly each of plaintiffs’ arguments.
In reviewing the district court’s grant of summary judgment, we must determine whether the record as it stands reveals any disputed issues of material fact. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). To be material, the disputed facts must be facts which, under the substantive law governing the issue, might affect the outcome of the suit. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The presence of a genuine issue of fact is predicated on the existence of a legal theory which can be considered viable under the nonmoving party’s version of the facts. Ivy Street Corp. v. Alexander, 822 F.2d 1432, 1435 (6th Cir. 1987). The mere existence of a factual dispute is insufficient alone to bar summary judgment; rather, the dispute must be outcome determinative under prevailing law. Howland v. Kil-quist, 833 F.2d 639, 642 (7th Cir. 1987).
In his complaint, plaintiff Holloway asserted that defendants denied him the opportunity to practice his Native American religion in any meaningful way; that defendants sought to frustrate such practice; and that defendant Norris, Warden of MSU, denied Holloway the use of certain nonhazardous religious items which were stored in Norris’ office. In response, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment with supporting affidavits. In his affidavit, Warden Norris stated that he had done nothing to prevent or frustrate Holloway from practicing his religion as long as Holloway’s practice did not create a security risk or breach prison policy. Norris also stated that he did not have any of Holloway’s property in his office and was not aware of the nonhazardous items referred to in Holloway’s complaint. In an attempt to rebut Norris’ affidavit, Holloway sub
In determining whether Holloway’s right to freedom of religion was violated, we apply a reasonableness standard. O’Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342, 349, 107 S.Ct. 2400, 2404, 96 L.Ed.2d 282 quoting Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987). A prison regulation that infringes on a prisoner’s constitutional rights is valid if it is “reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” Id. In O’Lone, the Supreme Court considered the degree of infringement in determining whether a prisoner’s rights were violated. Here, Holloway does not detail what the practice of his Native American religion requires, nor does he assert any facts showing that he is deprived of all opportunity to practice his religion because Norris possesses his sage and sweet grass. Any disputes over whether Norris actually has the sage and sweet grass is not material, given the scant and conclusory allegations in Holloway’s complaint. Like the district court, we find no genuine issue of material fact which would require reversal of the district court’s grant of summary judgment.
Plaintiffs’ complaint also asserted that defendants denied plaintiffs access to mail received at MSU without notice or an opportunity to contest the denial. In particular, the complaint states that first class mail addressed to Holloway from family and friends was delayed and confiscated. The complaint asserts that none of the plaintiffs ever received notice of mail rejection, censorship or confiscation.
In Warden Norris’ affidavit in support of defendants’ motion for summary judgment, he stated that when an inmate receives mail that violates departmental policy, the inmate is notified and the mail is returned to the sender. Inmates are not afforded a procedure by which to protest mail rejection decisions. Inmates on punitive status are not allowed to receive general correspondence until they go on forty-eight hour relief, and are not notified when such mail is received.
We note, as did the district court, that this court has addressed the validity of the mail regulations at issue here. Little v. Norris, 787 F.2d 1241, 1243-44 (8th Cir. 1986). In Little, we considered the constitutionality of the temporary suspension of an inmate’s nonlegal mail as part of a disciplinary action, and upheld such a restriction. Holloway’s allegation involving delay of mail received while he was on punitive status involves, at most, a random misapplication of a reasonable regulation which does not defeat the grant of summary judgment.
With respect to the regulations which allow prison officials to return to the sender mail that violates prison regulations without allowing inmates an opportunity to protest, we apply the reasonableness standard enunciated by the Supreme Court in Turner. See Thornburgh v. Abbott, — U.S. -, 109 S.Ct. 1874, 104 L.Ed.2d 459 (1989) (limiting Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974), to outgoing correspondence and applying reasonableness standard to incoming correspondence from outsiders). Plaintiffs presented no evidence showing that prison administrators drew distinctions between incoming mail based on anything other than implications for prison security, as alleged by prison officials. Therefore, we conclude that plaintiffs raised no genuine issue of material fact regarding whether the procedures in question were “reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.”
In their amended complaint, plaintiffs challenged the manner in which the inmate welfare fund was used, arguing that they were being deprived of their property rights in the fund without due process. The district court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss, finding that the complaint at best stated a property claim not cognizable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. We agree with the district court’s conclusion that even taking the pleaded facts as true,
For the reasons stated above and for the reasons stated by the district court, we affirm.
. The Honorable Elsijane Trimble Roy, Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.
Continue your research
- Eighth Circuit cases applying the Turner/O'Lone reasonableness standard to prisoner First Amendment religious freedom claims
- Cases applying Thornburgh v. Abbott to prisoner incoming-mail restrictions and procedural due process
- Section 1983 cases addressing whether prison inmate welfare fund or trust account deprivations state a constitutional property claim
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.