Robert R. Reimers v. State of Oregon

Robert Reimers appeals from the entry of summary judgment on his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for violation of both the free exercise and the establishment clauses of the first amendment. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 , 636(c)(3) and we affirm.

I.

Reimers was a prisoner in Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) from 1982 to 1985 and was a practicing member of the United Pentecostal Church during that time. While at OSP Reimers attended group Bible study sessions and group worship services conducted by Pastor Albert Dillon. Pastor Dillon was a Pentecostal minister who visited OSP to provide religious instruction as a volunteer minister.

Father James Jacobson, a Roman Catholic priest, and Myron Henry, a United Methodist minister, were employed by OSP as prison chaplains. In this capacity, they coordinated the activities of volunteer ministers such as Pastor Dillon. Jacobson and Henry determined that Pastor Dillon was violating an OSP regulation that prohibited proselytizing by clergymen. After warning Dillon about his conduct, they prohibited him from conducting future Bible study or worship services at OSP.

II.

We review de novo a grant of summary judgment. Darring v.…