THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060403
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAN VERTEFEUILLE, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
LENGTH: 79 lines
A federal judge has ordered a Virginia prison to temporarily stop enforcing a new state policy that makes it harder for inmates to get special religious diets.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of Muslim prisoner Rahim X, saying the policy violates inmates' First Amendment religious rights.
The order lasts for 10 days, until a hearing on the issue can be held.
The policy, enacted May 7, allows Jewish and Muslim prisoners religious meals only if they provide a written statement from a rabbi or an imam indicating that ``the inmate sincerely holds these religious beliefs and requires a kosher or Nation of Islam diet,'' according to a Department of Corrections memo.
Clergy submitting written statements on behalf of inmates must also submit ``credentials'' to the Department of Corrections documenting their ``qualifications,'' according to the memo.
In his order, Wilson said the policy violates the First Amendment by conditioning inmates' ``free exercise of religious beliefs upon the intervention of religious clerics.''
The order applies only to Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, which is the only state prison providing the special diets. Virginia prison officials said they enacted the policy because they were being swamped with inmate requests for special Jewish and Islamic diets. The corrections department must pay more for the meals and has to transfer approved inmates to Buckingham for the diets.
A spokesman for the Department of Corrections said Wednesday he couldn't comment on the judge's order specifically because the Attorney General's Office had not briefed him yet.
David Botkins did say that the department enacted its policy in May because of the costs involved, not to interfere with a prisoner's religious beliefs.
``The department does not want to deprive anyone of a diet needed for particular religious beliefs but wants verification to make sure the inmate's request is motivated by sincerely held beliefs,'' he said.
The verification is necessary because officials don't always believe the prisoners' requests to be genuine. ``Who knows why convicted felons do some of the things they do? Many like to just get attention, and many like to just create problems for staff,'' Botkins said. ``But the department does take religious requirements very seriously.''
Three inmates filed suit in U.S. District Court in Roanoke over the policy, but two cases were resolved before court action. One inmate was granted a kosher diet, while another decided not to pursue the request.
Of the almost 400 inmates who received religious diets at Buckingham before the policy went into effect, 231 got kosher meals and 151 got food appropriate for Muslims. In comparison, only 88 inmates were getting religious diets at the end of 1994, according to statistics provided by the Department of Corrections.
Jewish law dictates a kosher diet, which prohibits pork and shellfish among other foods, and dictates that meat and dairy products be served separately. It also regulates the manner in which food animals are slaughtered, how they must be examined for disease and how soon afterward they are to be eaten.
Islamic law also forbids consuming pork and animal blood. As in Jewish law, animals must be slaughtered by cutting their throats while saying a blessing.
The Department of Corrections buys frozen kosher meals that cost $7 per day per inmate, according to Janice Dow, Department of Corrections community-resource manager. Islamic meals cost about $4 a day. The price of a regular diet is about $3 a day, she said.
Inmates who were transferred to Buckingham specifically for the diet and who are unable to get an outside clergy member to vouch for them could be transferred to another prison under the new policy.
Wilson issued the temporary restraining order Tuesday evening, after the state failed to respond to an earlier order that it explain by May 31 why X's request shouldn't be granted.
In that order, Wilson said, ``This court is not the appropriate forum to adjudicate the dietary restrictions of inmates. Federal courts should not intervene in the daily management of state prisons. MEMO: Roanoke Times staff writer Betty Hayden Snider contributed to this
story.
KEYWORDS: PRISONS VIRGINIA RELIGIOUS DIETS POLICY by CNB