Ramadan v. Fbop

1 Citing case

  1. Jones v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons

    Civil Case No. 7:20-cv-00487 (W.D. Va. Sep. 8, 2020)

    To the extent Jones's claim regarding interference with his religion could be construed as a RFRA claim, that claim is subject to dismissal because the only party he names is a federal agency and he seeks only damages for relief, which are not recoverable against the BOP. See Webman v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 441 F.3d 1022, 1026 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (affirming dismissal of claim for damages against Bureau of Prisons because "RFRA does not waive the federal government's sovereign immunity for damages"); Oklevueha Native American Church of Hawaii, Inc. v. Holder, 676 F.3d 829, 840-41 (9th Cir. 2012) ("Just like the identical language in RLUIPA, RFRA's authorization of 'appropriate relief' is not an 'unequivocal expression' of the waiver of sovereign immunity to monetary claims."); see also Ramadan v. FBOP, No. 1:14-CV-25757, 2015 WL 13745349, at *11 (S.D.W. Va. Aug. 27, 2015), report and recommendation adopted, No. CV 1:14-25757, 2015 WL 5684126 (S.D.W. Va. Sept. 28, 2015) (holding same and noting the Fourth Circuit had not addressed the issue). Cf. Madison v. Virginia, 474 F.3d 118, 132 (4th Cir. 2006) (adopting reasoning of Webman to hold different statute with similar language did not allow monetary relief against sovereign); but see cf. Tanvir v. Tanzin, 984 F.3d 449, 472 (2d Cir. 2018) (concluding that RFRA damages are available in personal-capacity claims against individual law enforcement officers), cert. granted, 140 S. Ct. 550 (2019).