UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 19-6523 RANDY BURKE, Plaintiff − Appellant, v. HAROLD CLARKE, Director of the State of Virginia Department of Corrections; LESLIE FLEMINGS, Warden/Superintendent of the Wallens Ridge State Prison; J. C. COMBS, Assistant Warden of the Wallens Ridge State Prison; JIMMY COLLINS, Unit Manager/Supervisor for the A-2 and A-3 Units; DAVID ROBINSON, Chief of Operations of Virginia Department of Corrections; C. KING, Lieutenant for the A-2 and A-3 Units; JOHN JABE, Deputy Director of Operations of Virginia Department of Corrections; ROBERT A. BIVENS, Regional Ombudsman of Virginia Department of Corrections; BRENDA RAVIZEE, Institutional Ombudsman and Grievance Coordinator of the Wallens Ridge State Prison; REBECCA YOUNG, Operation Manager of the Wallens Ridge State Prison; MARCIA HENSLEY, Treatment Program Supervisor; THOMAS JONES, Law Library Supervisor at the Wallens Ridge State Prison, Defendant – Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western of Virginia, at Charleston. Pamela Meade Sargent, Magistrate Judge. (7:16-cv-00365-PMS) Argued: October 26, 2020 Decided: January 14, 2021 Before KING and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and Stephanie A. GALLAGHER, United States District Judge for the District of Maryland, sitting by designation. Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by unpublished opinion. Judge Diaz wrote the opinion, in which Judge King and Judge Gallagher joined. ARGUED: Daniel Scott Harawa, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, St. Louis, Missouri, for Appellant. Jessica Merry Samuels, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Cole Hanzlicek, Student Counsel, Harald Kirn, Student Counsel, Ernest Zhu, Student Counsel, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, St. Louis, Missouri, for Appellant. Mark R. Herring, Attorney General, Victoria N. Pearson, Deputy Attorney General, Laura Haeberle Cahill, Assistant Attorney General, Toby J. Heytens, Solicitor General, Michelle S. Kallen, Deputy Solicitor General, Martine E. Cicconi, Deputy Solicitor General, Zachary R. Glubiak, John Marshall Fellow, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. 2 DIAZ, Circuit Judge: Randy Burke is an inmate in the custody of the Virginia Department of Corrections (“VDOC”). He keeps his hair in dreadlocks, in accordance with his Rastafarian faith. Because Burke refused to cut his hair, the VDOC placed him in a restrictive housing unit as required by its grooming policy. At various times, the VDOC also denied Burke’s requests for religious items, meals, and group services. Burke sued several VDOC officials in their official and individual capacities under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, challenging the VDOC’s grooming policy and the denial of religious accommodations. He claimed that the VDOC violated his religious exercise rights under the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person Act (“RLUIPA”) and his equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court granted summary judgment to the VDOC, finding that Burke failed to establish that his beliefs are sincere and that VDOC policies imposed a substantial burden on his religious exercise. However, the VDOC now concedes that Burke’s beliefs are sincere, and we ...
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