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Abstract: 

This article reviews four legal proceedings. In Sossamon v. Texas , 563 U.S.__, LEXIS CITE (April 20, 2011) Harvey Leroy Sossamon, III, a state prisoner in Texas, commenced an action under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) against Texas and several prison officials claiming monetary damages as well as injunctive relief. He alleged that the policy prohibiting inmates from attending religious services while on cell restriction and the policy of not allowing use of a prison chapel for religious services violated RLUIPA. Monetary relief was not granted by the District Court for the Western District of Texas, and an appellate court and the Supreme Court upheld this decision. In Knowlin v. Heise 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 8792 (7th Cir. April 29, 2011) the Seventh Circuit Appellate Court upheld a decision from the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin stating that Lee Knowlin, a Wisconsin prisoner, did not have his right to due process violated because of a prison requirement that he participate in an unnecessary substance abuse treatment program. In Berrios- Romero v. Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 8556 (1st Cir. April 27, 2011) the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Benjamin Berrios-Romero’s claim that his constitutional rights were violated because he was refused access to pre-parole community based diversion programs. In United States v. Juvenile Male, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1083 (9th Cir. January 20, 2011), the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an Arizona district court did not abuse its discretion when it made a decision regarding a probation location for a minor that was 1200 miles from his home, given the minor’s level of need for rehabilitation.

Keywords: probation; parole

Affiliations:  1: Pace University School of Law Library.