Fenelon

MEMORANDUM **

As a preliminary matter, we find Fenelon has standing to bring this action. The voluntary cessation of an unlawful practice by the state does not moot a plaintiffs claim absent a showing that violations could not reasonably be expected to recur. Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw Envtl. Serv., 528 U.S. 167, 193 , 120 S.Ct. 693 , 145 L.Ed.2d 610 (2000). In the proceedings below, Fenelon alleged that his First Amendment rights require the prison in which he is incarcerated to permit him to attend the weekly Jumu'ah service for Muslims and that this time spent at service should count toward reducing his sentence as part of California’s Work Incentive Program. We reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Fenelon and vacate the permanent injunction based on that grant.

The prison regulation at issue allowed excused time off (ETO) for special *267 religious functions other than routine services. The district court interpreted the weekly service of Jumu'ah as a special, not routine religious function, and therefore attendance at Jumu‘ah as eligible for ETO. In apparent obeisance to the canon of constitutional avoidance, the district court ruled in this…