Thoughts on recent Ninth Circuit and California appellate cases from Professor Shaun Martin at the University of San Diego School of Law.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Khatib v. County of Orange (9th Cir. - Sept. 13, 2010)
The Ninth Circuit held last year that a holding cell at the massive Orange County facility was not an "institution" governed by the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and it was accordingly not a potential violation of that Act to force a Muslim woman to remove her hijab (headscarf). Chief Judge Kozinski dissented, and I discussed the case here.
Today the Ninth Circuit takes the case en banc. Which, particularly given the other facts we know, tends to suggest where this one's headed. Assuming a not-unusual draw for the en banc panel.