In Khatib v. County of Orange, published March 15, 2011, the Ninth Circuit, sittin en banc, ruled that the holding facility at the Orange County Santa Ana Courthouse is an "institution" within the meaning of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which protects the religious rights of "institutionalized" persons. The court reversed the district court's dismissal of a suit against the county by a Muslim woman allegedly ordered to remove her hijab while she was held in custody at the courthouse. The court emphasized that its ruling applied only to this courthouse, and that other courthouses and detention facilities have unique characteristics that require individualized review. Further, the court declined to consider whether the accommodations the plaintiff requested were impractical for the facility; that would be determined at the summary judgment stage.
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