Blair-Bey v. Nix’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 federal appellate · 4 district · 3 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Rather, prisoners must simply be given a reasonable opportunity to exercise their religious freedom guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Brown ex rel. Indigenous Inmates at the North Dakota State Prison v. Schuetzle · 368 F. Supp. 2d 1009 - BROWN EX REL. INDIGENOUS INMATES v. Schuetzle

2. “Although the district court found the MST's tenets differ from other Islamic sects — and noted the current Islamic advisor does not believe or follow all the MST's practices — the district court did not find the advisor deficient in his understanding of the MST's tenets, incapable of ministering to the MST inmates, or unwilling to do so because of his personal skepticism about the MST sect. It is apparent to us the district court's sparse findings about the advisor do not support the court's conclusion that the advisor's efforts may "undermine [the prisoner's] efforts to practice their religion with the same freedoms that other derivative sects of other major religious groups at [the penitentiary] enjoy." Indeed, the record shows the current advisor is an authority on the Islamic religion; he is qualified by education and experience to serve all the Islamic inmates at the penitentiary; and he understands the nuances of the MST sect.... In sum, we conclude the penitentiary's policy of providing a single Islamic advisor does not unreasonably impinge on the MST inmates' ability to practice their religion.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Crosley-El v. Berge

3. “Although the Islamic advisor may not be the religious leader the prisoners prefer, his employment by the prison does not interfere with the MST inmates' ability to exercise freely their religious beliefs. The MST inmates enjoy the same religious freedoms as other inmates. The penitentiary permits the MST inmates to pray and worship together, receive and read MST literature, possess religious artifacts, receive MST ad-visors as visitors, and otherwise follow their religious beliefs within the bounds of the penitentiary’s operating rules.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 620 F. Supp. 2d 1035 - Burke v. North Dakota Department of Correction & Rehabilitation