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Court Discusses Free Exercise Rights of Civilly Commited Sex Offender

By Howard Friedman

In a non-precedential decision, Marsh v. Liberty Behavioral Health Care, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24347 (MD FL, March 27, 2008), a Florida federal district court decided several issues relating to the free exercise rights of an offender who was civilly confined under Florida's Involuntary Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators' Treatment and Care Act. It held that an individual civilly confined under the act is not considered a "prisoner" for purposes of the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Thus the fact that previously, as a prisoner, plaintiff had filed 35 federal court actions did not limit his ability to bring this lawsuit.

Finding, however, that "a person who is civilly committed is in a position analogous to a criminally confined prisoner," the court applied the tests of Turner v. Safley to plaintiff's claim that his free exercise rights were violated when he was disciplined for practicing his "spiritual forms of Nisei GoJu-Ryu Karate." The Court concluded that it "need not make a determination whether martial arts is an essential component to Plaintiff's spiritual beliefs because the challenged FCCC policy is reasonably related to a legitimate security interest." The court however said that plaintiff could refile claims alleging that other actions of the Florida Civil Commitment Center staff interfered with his practice of Zen Buddhist meditation, but must articulate how this substantially burdens his ability to practice his faith.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on March 30, 2008 (boomark / email).