Reginald Clarence Howard v. HOWARD SKOLNIK, Director (NDOC)

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
REGINALD CLARENCE HOWARD,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
HOWARD SKOLNIK, Director (NDOC);
DWIGHT NEVEN, Warden; ISIDRO
BACA, Warden; JULIO CALDERIN,
Chaplain; DWAYNE DEAL, Caseworker;
AWP J. HENSON,
Defendants-Appellees.
No. 16-15679
D.C. No. 2:08-cv-00728-GMN-
GWF
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Nevada
Gloria M. Navarro, Chief Judge, Presiding
April 19, 2018 **
Before: TROTT, SILVERMAN and TALLMAN, Circuit Judges.
Reginald Clarence Howard, a Nevada state prisoner, appeals pro se from the
district court’s summary judgment in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging that
defendants violated his right to the free exercise of religion. We have jurisdiction
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
APR 23 2018
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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2 16-15679
under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo both summary judgment and an
officer’s entitlement to qualified immunity. Hughes v. Kisela, 841 F.3d 1081,
1084 (9th Cir. 2016). We may affirm on any basis supported by the record.
Hartmann v. California Dept. of Corr. & Rehab., 707 F.3d 1114, 1121 (9th Cir.
2013). We affirm.
An inmate’s First Amendment right of the free exercise of religion is subject
to certain limitations. As the Supreme Court said in O’Lone v. Estate of Shabazz,
482 U.S. 342 (1987),
[I]ncarceration brings about the necessary withdrawal or
limitation of many privileges and rights, a retraction
justified by the considerations underlying our penal
system. The limitations on the exercise of constitutional
rights arise both from the fact of incarceration and from
valid penological objectives including -- deterrence of
crime, rehabilitation of prisoners, and institutional
security.
Id. at 348 (citations and quotations omitted).
The unchallenged factual reason for the Nevada Department of Correction’s
cancellation of Nation of Islam services at High Desert State Prison was
institutional security. There was no dispute about the legitimacy of this reason
sufficient to generate a genuine controversy requiring resolution by a trial.
AFFIRMED.

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