COOKSON v. COMMISSIONER, MAINE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Filing 36

ORDER adopting 33 Report and Recommended Decision for 30 Amended Motion for Summary Judgment filed by COMMISSIONER, MAINE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; granting 30 Amended Motion for Summary Judgment; dismissing as moot 11 Motion for Summary Judgment. By JUDGE JOHN A. WOODCOCK, JR. (MFS)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MAINE
JOSHUA M. COOKSON,

)
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
v.
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COMMISSIONER, MAINE
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DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, )
)
Defendant.
)

1:10-cv-00256-JAW

ORDER AFFIRMING THE
RECOMMENDED DECISION OF THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Joshua M. Cookson filed a complaint against the Commissioner of the Maine
Department of Corrections (the Commissioner) on June 23, 2010, alleging that the
Commissioner violated his right to practice his religion, Satanism, at the Maine
State Prison (MSP).1 Compl. (Docket # 1). On May 16, 2011, the Commissioner
moved for summary judgment. Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. (Docket # 11). Mr. Cookson
filed an opposition on June 3, 2011, Pl.’s Mem. of Law in Opp’n to Def.’s Mot. for
Summ. J. (Docket # 16), and the Commissioner replied on July 11, 2011, Reply of
Def. Martin Magnusson to Pl.’s Opp’n to Mot. for Summ. J. (Docket # 21).

While Mr. Cookson’s Complaint does not specify the claims he is bringing to the federal forum, his
appeal of grievances to the Commissioner suggests that he contends that the policies and decisions of
the MSP infringe his rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
(RLUIPA), his right to the free exercise of religion and free speech under the First Amendment, and
his right to due process and/or equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. Rec. Dec. at 1
n.1; Compl. Attach. 2 at 7-8. While Mr. Cookson claimed a violation of his Eighth Amendment and
state constitutional rights, he expressly withdrew all claims under the Eighth Amendment and
under the Maine Constitution in his opposition to the Commissioner’s motion for summary
judgment. Pl.’s Opp’n at 5.
1

On August 22, 2011, Mr. Cookson moved to substitute Joseph Ponte, the
current Commissioner of the Maine Department of Corrections, as the defendant in
this matter and requested additional time to supplement the summary judgment
record. Mot. for Substitution of Party and Additional Time to Supplement Summ. J.
Record (Docket # 25). That same day, Mr. Cookson asked to amend his complaint to
reflect this change in leadership. Pl.’s Mot. to Am. the Original Compl. (Docket #
26).

The Magistrate Judge granted the motion and Commissioner Ponte was

substituted for Commissioner Magnusson on August 29, 2011. Order (Docket # 28).
Mr. Ponte filed an amended motion for summary judgment on October 6,
2011, Am. Mot. for Summ. J. (Docket # 30); Mr. Cookson responded on October 17,
2011, Pl.’s Opposing Statement to Am. Mot. for Summ. J. (Docket # 31).

The

Commissioner replied on October 21, 2011. Def.’s Reply to Pl.’s Opp’n to Am. Mot.
for Summ. J. (Docket # 32).
The United States Magistrate Judge filed a Recommended Decision on
January 4, 2012. Recommended Decision on Mot. for Summ. J. (Docket # 33) (Rec.
Dec.). Mr. Cookson objected to the Recommended Decision on January 20, 2012,
Pl.’s Mem. of Law in Support of His Objections to Recommended Decision on Mot. for
Summ. J. (Docket # 34), and the Commissioner responded on February 3, 2012,
Response to Objection to Report and Recommended Decision (Docket # 35).
The

Court

has

reviewed

and

considered

the

Magistrate

Judge’s

Recommended Decision, together with the entire record, and has made a de novo
determination of all matters adjudicated therein.

2

The Court concurs with the

recommendations of the Magistrate Judge for the reasons set forth in the
Recommended Decision.2
1.

It is therefore ORDERED that the Recommended Decision of the
Magistrate Judge is hereby ADOPTED.

2.

The Defendant’s Amended Motion for Summary Judgment
(Docket # 30) is GRANTED.3

SO ORDERED.

/s/ John A. Woodcock, Jr.
JOHN A. WOODCOCK, JR.
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated this 15th day of March, 2012

After the Magistrate Judge issued her opinion on January 4, 2012, the Supreme Court addressed
the appropriate role of government as it relates to the free exercise of religion. See Hosanna-Tabor
Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 132 S. Ct. 694 (2012) (holding that religious
clauses of First Amendment “bar the government from interfering with the decision of a religious
group to fire one of its ministers” and that ministerial exception prevented “called” teacher’s
employment discrimination suit). This case does not affect the Magistrate’s legal analysis of Mr.
Cookson’s claims that he is entitled to accommodation of his Satanist practice within the prison
setting.
3 As noted above, the Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on May 16, 2011, Mot. for
Summ. J. of Def. Martin Magnusson (Docket # 11), and on October 6, 2011 filed an amended motion
for summary judgment, Am. Mot. for Summ. J. (Docket # 30). The Magistrate Judge issued a
Recommended Decision on the original motion for summary judgment on July 26, 2011, which she
subsequently withdrew. Recommended Decision on Mot. for Summ. J. (Docket # 23); Order (Docket #
29). In issuing her Recommended Decision on January 4, 2012, the Magistrate Judge appears to
have treated the amended motion as the operative motion. Rec. Dec. at 3. As the motion for
summary judgment and amended motion for summary judgment are technically both still pending,
the Court DISMISSES as moot the Motion for Summary Judgment of Defendant Martin Magnusson
(Docket # 11) and treats the amended motion as the operative pleading.
2

3