Hoffman v. Westcott

Background

A State of Louisiana execution is scheduled for tonight for Jessie Hoffman, who is Buddhist. Hoffman says Louisiana’s planned method—nitrogen hypoxia—would substantially burden his religious exercise by interfering with his meditative breathing as he dies, and he sued under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The district court rejected his RLUIPA claim after making its own finding about what his faith requires. The Court of Appeals did not address that claim on appeal.

Reasoning

The immediate question was whether the Court should pause the execution so courts can resolve Hoffman’s religious objection to the execution method. The full Court denied the emergency request and allowed the execution to proceed. Justice Gorsuch explains the district court erred by substituting its own view about the defendant’s required breathing practices, noting courts may not decide whether a believer has "correctly perceived" religious commands. Because the Fifth Circuit omitted the RLUIPA issue, Gorsuch says the federal courts below failed to confront an important legal claim.

Real world impact

As the Court denied the stay, the execution could go forward tonight, leaving Hoffman’s RLUIPA claim unresolved by higher courts. The omission also means the Supreme Court lacks a developed lower-court record to evaluate the religious-burden claim. If the lower courts later address the claim, the case’s legal questions could be revisited.

Dissents or concurrances

Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson would have granted the stay; Justice Gorsuch would have granted review, vacated the Fifth Circuit’s judgment, and sent the case back for consideration.