The Supreme Court declined Monday to revive a Jewish inmate’s complaint that North Carolina prison officials discriminated against him by not allowing him to form a prayer and study group.

As is customary, the justices did not explain the decision not to take the case. But Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. filed a dissent, saying Israel Ben-Levi raised important questions about religious freedom.

“The court’s refusal to grant review in this case does not signify approval of the decision below,” Alito wrote. “But the court’s indifference to this discriminatory infringement of religious liberty is disappointing.”

In a handwritten petition to the court, Ben-Levi asked the justices to review decisions of a federal district judge and an affirmation by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.

They had agreed that prison officials were justified in denying Ben-Levi’s request for a “Jewish Bible Study” in the prison.

Warden Betty Brown turned down Ben-Levi’s 2012 request because, after consulting with a rabbi, she said a Jewish study group, or minyan, requires a quorum of 10 Jewish adults. Ben-Levi was proposing a group of only three.

That requirement can be waived “in a prison setting only when the service is led by a rabbi,” Brown said. But there was no Orthodox rabbi willing to participate.

Ben-Levi sued, but the lower courts rejected his First Amendment claims and said prison officials had not violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which prohibits religious discrimination in prison settings.

Alito said the prison policy treated Jewish groups differently from Christian or Muslim groups. Ben-Levi recognized that his group did not meet the minimum requirements, Alito said, but concluded that a smaller group would be better than nothing.

“The courts below should have considered whether [North Carolina’s] policy imposed a substantial burden on Ben-Levi’s ability to exercise his religious beliefs, as he understands them,” Alito wrote. “Ben-Levi believes that relaxing the minyan requirement promotes his faith more than sacrificing group Torah study altogether.”

Alito would have sent the case back for more work by the lower courts.

The case is Ben-Levi v. Brown.

The court also declined to accept the case of a Mississippi high school student and aspiring rapper who was suspended because of a posting he made outside of school.

Taylor Bell was suspended after he wrote and recorded a rap song that criticized two coaches for alleged sexual inappropriateness toward female students. He posted the song online and was suspended from Itawamba Agricultural High School for seven days.

Lower courts upheld the suspension.

The case is Bell v. Itawamba School Board.