Howard v. Koeller, 2:14-cv-00667

Background

Plaintiff Joshua Howard, a Wisconsin state prisoner at Waupun Correctional Institution, filed a pro se amended § 1983 complaint alleging multiple constitutional and statutory violations by WCI staff and administrators.
Howard alleges Establishment Clause violations based on: (1) a nativity painting displayed in the library (Dec 2008–Jan 2009); (2) distribution of a charity bag and religious literature from a Christian ministry (July 2010); and (3) programming the institutional TV channel to broadcast a Christian radio station (June 2011).
Howard, a Theravada Buddhist, claims Chaplain Paliekara prohibited him from possessing a Buddhist emblem necklace while allowing other religious symbols, asserting Free Exercise and Equal Protection violations.
Howard alleges retaliation and a false conduct report by Correctional Officer Koeller, with Librarian Webster backing the report, in retaliation for Howard assisting other inmates with lawsuits; he also asserts a state-law intentional infliction of emotional distress claim.
Howard asserts violations of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act arising from disability accommodations and employment practices related to a chronic back injury (indefinite restriction, assignment to food service, pay differential, and an alleged false claim of refusing work).
Court screened the amended complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, found that Howard may proceed on his federal claims, exercised supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law IIED claim, granted IFP, and ordered service and a responsive pleading from the state defendants.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Establishment Clause — nativity painting	Howard: religious display in library endorses Christianity	Defs: likely secular/innocuous placement or de minimis; no endorsement	Court allowed claim to proceed (survived screening)
Establishment Clause — charity bag/literature	Howard: Warden Pollard organized distribution of Christian materials, endorsing religion	Defs: charitable/voluntary distribution; neutral accommodation or private speech	Court allowed claim to proceed (survived screening)
Establishment Clause — TV audio tuned to Christian radio	Howard: institution programming promoted Christian sermons to inmates	Defs: programming for information/entertainment; not government endorsement	Court allowed claim to proceed (survived screening)
Free Exercise / Equal Protection — Buddhist necklace	Howard: Chaplain barred Buddhist emblem while allowing other symbols; discriminatory burden on religious practice	Defs: security/regulatory justification or neutral policy applied uniformly	Court allowed claim to proceed (survived screening)
Retaliation / False misconduct report & IIED (state law)	Howard: Koeller issued false report and Webster supported it in retaliation for legal assistance to inmates; emotional distress resulted	Defs: disciplinary report proper; no retaliatory motive; IIED not pleaded sufficiently	Court allowed retaliation claim under First Amendment and exercised supplemental jurisdiction over IIED (state law)
ADA / Rehabilitation Act — disability accommodations and employment	Howard: denied appropriate accommodation, assigned to food service contrary to policy, paid less, and falsely accused of refusing work	Defs: legitimate penological/administrative reasons; no disability discrimination	Court allowed ADA/Rehab Act claims to proceed (survived screening)

Key Cases Cited

Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25 (1992) (standard for dismissing frivolous prisoner complaints)
Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319 (1989) (frivolousness and baseless factual allegations)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) (plausibility standard for pleading)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009) (pleading standards; differentiate conclusions from factual allegations)
Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976) (pro se complaints entitled to liberal construction)
Gomez v. Toledo, 446 U.S. 635 (1980) (state actors under color of law for § 1983)