Federal appeals court revives Hasidic inmate’s claims over alleged Iowa prison religious violations
An inmate who identifies as a Hasidic Jew will get another chance to pursue several claims that Iowa prison officials failed to accommodate his religious practices after a federal appeals court revived parts of his lawsuit.Lawrence Hamby, who was incarcerated at the Iowa State Penitentiary from June 2009 to February 2023, alleged that the Iowa Department of Corrections denied requests for kosher meals, candles to light before Shabbat and Jewish holidays, access to a mikveh for ritual cleansing and the use of religious funds for attorney fees.After exhausting the prison system’s internal grievance process, Hamby sued the department and several officials under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, alleging violations of his religious rights.The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa dismissed all of Hamby’s claims, finding that his grievances were untimely, improperly submitted, lacked merit or were moot because Hamby, by that time, had been…
A federal appeals court has revived parts of a lawsuit filed by Lawrence Hamby, a Hasidic Jewish inmate, alleging that Iowa prison officials failed to accommodate his religious practices. Hamby, incarcerated from 2009 to 2023, claimed the Iowa Department of Corrections denied requests for kosher meals, Shabbat candles, access to a mikveh, and use of religious funds for legal fees. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court's dismissal, ruling that Iowa waived sovereign immunity by accepting federal funding and that Hamby had properly exhausted administrative remedies. The case has been remanded for further proceedings.
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