In a July 16, 2014 lawsuit, Rikers inmate Roberto Nieves asserts that he was improperly denied the ability to practice his Wiccan religion. Here’s the NY Post story.
In his inmate grievance (page 8 of the filing) plaintiff asserts that his brother tried to leave him three religious books – a “Wicca Bible”, “book of shadows”, and a “[r]eligious history book” – and that a Captain Harvey refused to give him his books after telling him that “Wicca was not a religion because she looked it up on the computer.”
It is worth noting that the Eastern District of New York has suggested – in Berrios v Hampton Bays Union Free School Dist., CV 02-3124, 2007 WL 778165 [EDNY Mar. 12, 2007] (which, unlike the instant case, involved allegations of religion-based employment discrimination) – “that the definition of what constitutes a religious belief [under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964] is certainly broad enough to include [the Wiccan] religion.”
Update: Here is the City’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s lawsuit under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), filed 12/31/14.