THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601280129
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
A Virginia inmate who said prison officials violated his religious rights by denying him a kosher diet has lost his appeal in a federal court.
In a 9-4 decision Friday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of Dennis Wayne Cochran's lawsuit against state prison officials.
Cochran's appeal to a three-judge panel was pending when the full court voted to consider the case.
The majority said U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton was entitled to broad discretion in ruling that Cochran's claim was frivolous because it already had been rejected by another federal court.
The appeals court also noted that Cochran had a history of filing other meritless suits.
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote in the majority opinion that the authority given to federal judges to dismiss such claims ``is necessary to prevent the abuse of free court access by litigants who possess both time and dissatisfaction in abundance.''
But Judge Blane Michael wrote in a dissent that the majority cited the wrong rule.
He said Hilton dismissed the case on its merits, not because it already had been considered in another court.
Cochran was stabbed by another inmate in a stairwell at Buckingham Correctional Center at around the same time he asked for the kosher diet.
He claimed officials gave him a choice of being transferred to another prison to get away from his attacker or staying at Buckingham - the only prison that offers kosher food.
Cochran chose transfer, but contended that he changed his mind after consulting a rabbi.
He claimed officials would not let him revoke his first decision, and he was transferred in violation of his right to freedom of religion.
A judge in Cochran's first lawsuit on the matter said the inmate changed his mind after the transfer, so it was permissible for prison officials to refuse to transfer him back to Buckingham to receive a kosher diet.
Joining Wilkinson in the appeals court majority were Judges Donald S. Russell, H. Emory Widener Jr., Kenneth K. Hall, William W. Wilkins Jr., Paul V. Niemeyer, Clyde H. Hamilton, Michael Luttig and Karen J. Williams.
Dissenting along with Michael were Judges Sam J. Ervin III, Francis D. Murnaghan Jr. and Diana Motz. by CNB