Dennis Florer v. Cheryl Bales-Johnson
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Dennis Florer, a Washington state prisoner, appeals pro se from the district court’s summary judgment in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging defendants’ provision of meals violated his right to practice his religion and violated his constitutional rights. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo, Shakur v. Schriro, 514 F.3d 878, 883 (9th Cir.2008), and we affirm.
The district court properly granted summary judgment on Florer’s First Amendment free exercise and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) claims because he failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact that the defendants’ provision of meals had substantially burdened his ability to exercise his religion. See Warsoldier v. Woodford, 418 F.3d 989, 994 (9th Cir.2005) (under RLUIPA, prisoner has the initial burden to demonstrate a prima facie claim that prison policies constitute a substantial burden on the exercise of his religious beliefs); Freeman v. Arpaio, 125 F.3d 732, 736 (9th Cir.1997) (plaintiff must show that defendants burdened the practice of his religion), abrogated on other grounds as recognized in Shakur, 514 F.3d at 884-85 .