Gustavo McKenzie v. G. Ellis

MEMORANDUM

California state prisoner Gustavo McKenzie appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging First and Fourteenth Amendment violations arising from the denial of a religious diet to him as a Rastafarian. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo, Zueco Partners, LLC v. Digimarc Corp., 552 F.3d 981, 989 (9th Cir.2009), and we affirm.

The district court properly dismissed McKenzie’s claim for denial of free exercise of religion because denying McKenzie’s special requests for poultry was consistent with his religious diet, and because regulations requiring McKenzie to re-apply to the religious diet program at his new prison were related to valid penological interests and did not unduly burden his ability to practice his religion. See Resnick v. Adams, 348 F.3d 763, 768-71 (9th Cir.2003) (requiring an application to provide a religious diet does not unduly burden a prisoner’s right to practice his religion); Ward v. Walsh, 1 F.3d 873, 877 (9th Cir.1993) (prisons have a valid interest in keeping their food service system administratively simple); see also Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89, 90-91 , 107…