Search | Prison Legal News

VA Muslim Prisoner's Suit Over Retaliation, Clergy, Diet Dismissed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Religious Diet, Denial of Religious Services, Clergy

VA Muslim Prisoner's Suit Over Retaliation, Clergy, Diet Dismissed by The plaintiff, a member of the Nation of Islam, complained that he was barred from services for two months after a dispute with the chaplain. The exclusion met the Turner standard. At 529: "In a prison setting, avoiding conflict is …

No Qualified Immunity for Force Feeding Prisoner Who Agrees to Eat

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Hunger Strikes, Forcible Treatment, Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity, Religious Diet

No Qualified Immunity for Force Feeding Prisoner Who Agrees to Eat by The Muslim plaintiff fasted periodically for three to 15 days. On the fourth day of a fast, the defendant doctor declared him to be on a "hunger strike" and said he was lethargic, slow walking and talked with …

No Right To Halal Meat for Washington State Prisoner If Kosher Fits Religious Needs

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: RLUIPA, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

No Right To Halal Meat for Washington State Prisoner If Kosher Fits Religious Needs by No Right To Halal Meat for Washington State Prisoner If Kosher Fits Religious Needs Pro se Washington State prisoner and Muslim Linniell Phipps claimed constitutional violations when his facility substituted Kosher meals for Halal meat. …

Colorado Prisoners Win Partial Reversal on Religious Claims

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Summary Judgment, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Religious Property, Religion Defined

Colorado Prisoners Win Partial Reversal on Religious Claims by Two Colorado state prisoners won partial reversal of an adverse summary judgment ruling in their civil rights suit contesting Colorado Department of Corrections (CODOC) administrative regulations prohibiting practice of their Christian Identity Faith and classifying Christian Identity as a Security Threat …

Kosher Diet and Jewish Beard Requirement States Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Grooming Rules, Religious Freedom, Religious Grooming, Religious Diet

Kosher Diet and Jewish Beard Requirement States Claim by A federal district court in New York denied prison official's motion to dismiss a Jewish New York state prisoner's complaint alleging violation of his right to freely practice his religion. The court held that requiring the prisoner to maintain a beard …

Jewish Prisoner Entitled to Kosher Diet

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

Jewish Prisoner Entitled to Kosher Diet by The court of appeals for the Second circuit affirmed a district court's order that a Jewish federal prisoner in New York be provided with a Kosher diet. The prisoner successfully challenged the Bureau of Prisons national policy on this issue. The plaintiff in …

BOP Ordered to Provide Kosher Diet

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

BOP Ordered to Provide Kosher Diet by A federal district court in Pennsylvania issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) requiring the federal Bureau of Prisons to provide a Hassidic Jewish prisoner with a kosher meal during Passover. The court found the BOP's attempt at providing kosher meals deficient and ordered …

BOP Pays $7,000 in Pork Handling Suit

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prison Labor, Work Conditions/Safety, Conditions of Confinement, Food, Religious Diet, Religious Practices

BOP Pays $7,000 in Pork Handling Suit by BOP Pays $7,000 In Pork Handling Suit The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit affirmed a district court's award of 17,000 in damages to a Muslim federal prisoner at Marion who was punished for refusing to handle pork due to his …

Vegetarian Diet Required for Seventh Day Adventist

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

Vegetarian Diet Required for Seventh Day Adventist by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit held that a district court erred in dismissing an Oklahoma prisoner's lawsuit seeking a vegetarian diet to accommodate his Seventh Day Adventist beliefs. Prison official's claims vegetarian diets are not nutritionally adequate. Prisoner presented …

Summary Judgment Inappropriate in Arizona Religion Case

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorneys, Appointment of Counsel, Summary Judgment, Religious Diet, Denial of Religious Services

Summary Judgment Inappropriate in Arizona Religion Case by An Arizona state prisoner filed suit in U.S. district court. alleging First Amendment violations by prison authorities. The prisoner was not able to attend Jewish services, had no access to Jewish writings and was not afforded a kosher diet. Prison officials filed …

Eleventh Circuit Holds RLUIPA Constitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: RLUIPA, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Religious Practices

Eleventh Circuit Holds RLUIPA Constitutional by David Reutter By David M. Reutter The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) does not violate either the Spending Clause, the Establishment Clause, or the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Georgia Prisoner Ralph …

Buddhist Prisoner Retaliated Against; District Court Abused Discretion, Reversed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Denial of Religious Services, Religious Names, Religious Property

Buddhist Prisoner Retaliated Against; District Court Abused Discretion, Reversed by Buddhist Prisoner Retaliated Against; District Court Abused Discretion, Reversed The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, in a claim of retaliation made by a Buddhist prisoner against officials of the North …

Muslim Prisoners' Allegation Of Forced Pork Handling States Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prison Labor, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet, Religious Practices

Muslim Prisoners' Allegation Of Forced Pork Handling States Claim by In this brief opinion, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Muslim prisoners who brought a civil rights suit against prison officials for allegedly forcing them to handle pork stated a claim upon which relief could be granted. …

$29,000 Attorney Fees and Costs Award in Procedural Due Process Suit and Failure to Provide Kosher Meals

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Damages, Costs, Expert Witnesses, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

$29,000 Attorney Fees and Costs Award in Procedural Due Process Suit and Failure to Provide Kosher Meals by $29,000 Attorney Fees and Costs Award in Procedural Due Process Suit and Failure to Provide Kosher Meals A New York Federal District Court granted the plaintiff's motion for the award of attorney …

Third Circuit Upholds Forced Feeding of Pennsylvania Prisoner

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Hunger Strikes, Medical, Forcible Treatment, Religious Diet, Religious Practices

Third Circuit Upholds Forced Feeding of Pennsylvania Prisoner by On September 28, 2004, the U.S. Third Court of Appeals held that although the admission of a federal litigant's prior robbery conviction during trial was erroneous pursuant to Federal Rules of Evidence, the admission did not affect the trial's outcome. The …

Aliens May Sue Private Detention Companies Under ATCA

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Esmor/CSC, Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Prison Rebellion, Systemic Medical Neglect, Strip Searches, Totality of Conditions, Food, Overcrowding, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Supplies, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Class Certification, Limitations, Discovery, Fair Labor Standards Act, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, RLUIPA, Alien Tort Claims Act, Immigration, Contractor Liability, Sovereign Immunity, Religious Diet, Denial of Religious Services

Aliens May Sue Private Detention Companies Under ATCA by A federal court in New Jersey became the first court to hold that corporations which operate privatized immigration detention facilities may be sued under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA). The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) contracted with Esmor Correctional Services, …

Former Federal Prisoner Complaint Barred Against Federal Agency

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Complaints, RLUIPA, Religious Diet, Religious Property

Former Federal Prisoner Complaint Barred Against Federal Agency by Former Federal prisoner Ben Siyon Ish Yerushalayim filed a Bivens complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1915 alleging violation of his rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA.) …

Proof of Jewish Heritage May Violate Equal Protection

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

Proof of Jewish Heritage May Violate Equal Protection by Washington state prisoner James Shilling, a converted Jew, filed a Federal civil rights complaint against Washington and Nevada State Department of Corrections (DOC) personnel, claiming that they violated his First and 14th Amendment rights by denying him kosher meals while housed …

Wolff Applies to Jail Prisoner Disciplinary Hearings

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Disciplinary Litigation, Liberty Interests, Notice of Rules, Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Notice of Charges, Notice of Hearing, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Evidentiary Ruling (Disciplinary Hearings), Standard of Proof, Written Findings, Disciplinary Strategies, Standard of Review, Sanitation, Bedding, Hygiene Supplies, Prisoner Property, Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

Wolff Applies to Jail Prisoner Disciplinary Hearings by At 678: "Pre-trial detainees may not be punished without due process of law. . . . A pre-trial detainee is entitled to the procedural protections of Wolff v. McDonnell . . ., before imposition of punishment for a disciplinary infraction." At 679: …

Muslim Halal Diet Suit Against Kansas DOC Dismissed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

Muslim Halal Diet Suit Against Kansas DOC Dismissed by The Muslim plaintiffs complained that prison officials did not provide Halal meat, even though they provided Kosher meals to Jewish prisoners. The plaintiffs sued the defendants only in their official capacities, so they are immune under the Eleventh Amendment. The court …