Albert Kuperman v. William L. Wrenn, Commissioner, New Hampshire Department of

THOMPSON, Circuit Judge. Albert Kuperman, a former inmate at the New Hampshire State Prison, challenges a district court order granting summary judgment to the defendant prison officials. The New Hampshire State Prison system requires all inmates to be clean-shaven, unless they obtain a waiver based on a medical condition or on their religious beliefs.*fn1 An inmate who obtains a shaving waiver based on his religious beliefs may “maintain a 1/4-inch neatly trimmed beard.”

While incarcerated in state prison, Kuperman, an Orthodox Jew, filed a pro se complaint claiming that he should not have been required to shave at all, because doing so unduly impinged on his sincerely-held religious beliefs. More specifically, he asserted a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the prison shaving regulation (sometimes referred to as “PPD 7.17″) violated his rights under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. He also argued that it violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc-1 et seq.*fn2 The complaint sought injunctive relief, monetary damages, and declaratory judgment.