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When Prisoners Are Weary And Their Religious Exercise Burdened, Rluipa Provides Some Rest For Their Souls, Anne Y. Chiu

Washington Law Review

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) prohibits state and local governments from substantially burdening a prisoner's exercise of religion unless the government can show that its action is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest. Prior to RLUIPA, courts subjected prisoners' claims of violations of their right to exercise their religion to a "rational-relationship" standard. Because RLUIPA ("the Act") places a "strict scrutiny" standard on government actions burdening prisoners' religious exercise, the Act is a legislative accommodation of religion. Under Lemon v. Kurtzman, legislative accommodations violate the Establishment Clause if their …