THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996               TAG: 9606200450
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: ROANOKE                           LENGTH:   36 lines

JUDGE RULES INMATES DON'T NEED PROOF FOR RELIGIOUS DIETS

Virginia prisons can't force Jewish and Muslim inmates who want special meals that conform with their religions to get clergymen to vouch for their sincerity, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson said he understood the dilemma facing the state Department of Corrections: the burgeoning number of inmates requesting religious diets is costly, time consuming and disruptive.

``This court recognizes the department's strong interest in ensuring that requests for religious diets are legitimate,'' Wilson said. ``Nevertheless, the policy of requiring the intervention of religious leaders runs afoul of the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment.''

Prison officials must decide themselves whether requests for religious diets are granted, the judge said.

Wilson issued a preliminary injunction banning the practice until a trial is held in the case of a Muslim inmate at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn.

Rahim X, convicted of robbery and assaulting a prison staff member, filed a lawsuit challenging the policy after he declined to get documentation of his religious sincerity and was denied the special meals. The policy also requires Muslim imams and Jewish rabbis to submit their credentials for review.

Buckingham is the only prison in the state where the special meals are provided. About 40 percent of its 946 inmates are Jewish or Muslim.

Buckingham warden John Taylor testified Monday that special diet requests have grown from fewer than 40 a few years ago to 450. After the new policy began this spring, fewer than 175 inmates provided the required documentation.

KEYWORDS: PRISON VIRGINIA RULING RELIGION DIET by CNB