Leahy v. Conant

MAASSEN, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

A prisoner sued two prison superintendents, claiming that a mail policy instituted by the Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) violated his religious rights because it prohibited him from writing letters to fellow Muslims in two other prisons. He asked for damages and a declaratory judgment that the mail policy violated the Alaska Constitution and the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).

DOC rescinded the policy while the case was pending. The superior court granted summary judgment in favor of the superintendents, finding…