Posted on 08/23/2007 1:08:20 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
MIAMI -- Jewish inmates who follow strict religious diets at state prisons are no longer provided meals in line with their beliefs. Muslims must now eat vegan food to satisfy their religious requirements.
The Corrections Department has ended the Jewish Dietary Accommodation Program, which provided kosher meals to not only Jews, but to Muslims as well, because the state prison system does not offer halal food. Cost -- and fairness -- were cited as factors.
"We have 100 faiths represented by DOC inmates, so it would be impossible to satisfy everyone's preferences and unfair to do it for one group and not another," agency spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said. "We just have to look at what our mission is and what's best for our overall department and the overall population of inmates in our system instead of a smaller group."
The department has suspended use of pork products in an attempt to appease religious adherents and will continue to serve vegetarian and vegan meals. It said many Jews and Muslims could choose the vegan option, which is free of any animal products, to adhere to their faiths.
But for the strict followers of kosher and halal diets, it is far from ideal.
Rabbi Jack Romberg of Temple Israel in Tallahassee, who was a member of a group that reviewed religious dietary accommodations in prisons, noted that unless the vegan food is prepared separately from other meals, it would not satisfy kosher law. Ahmed Bedier of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Tampa said vegan food would meet the religious requirements of those who follow a halal diet, but would cause undue hardship.
"Either you have a choice of violating your own religion beliefs or you're coerced to only eat vegan," Bedier said. "That's probably not a reasonable accommodation."
Rules on halal and kosher foods are intricate, but at their core are similar in that both exclude pork and mandate a specific way in which an animal is to be killed. Kosher laws dictate the way food is cooked as well.
The Corrections Department halted new enrollment in the state's Jewish Dietary Accommodation Program in April -- when it had 259 inmates enrolled and another 95 seeking inclusion -- and commissioned a review. Last year, the department opened the kosher meal program to non-Jews and officials have feared it would burgeon, along with the bill.
The study group that looked at the issue recommended more stringent screening of applicants to ensure they weren't claiming religious beliefs simply to get different food. But the department said it wasn't feasible.
"It becomes impossible to really assess a person's faith and determine who should and who should not participate," Plessinger said. "By telling a person you're not faithful enough or not religious in your faith that's not really fair either."
The study group also recommended possible use of prepackaged kosher meals, a move members said could ease some logistical hurdles and better suit inmates' faiths.
"I wouldn't know why they wouldn't accept the recommendation," Romberg said.
The department said costs for the program ran the risk of running too high and could take away money from educational and vocational programming in prisons. There are about 93,000 inmates in state prisons, with an estimated 3.7 percent of them Muslim and 2.2 percent Jewish.
The state said it costs about $2.66 daily to serve inmates three regular meals. Kosher meals cost the same, but with costs for disposable containers and transportation, since the food wasn't prepared in each facility, the price came to about $4.71 daily. Prepackaged kosher meals would have cost roughly $12 to $15 daily per prisoner, according to the department, but also may have come with additional costs for transport and supplementation with additional food items.
A survey included in the study group's recommendations found that nationally, among 34 states that responded, 26 had kosher menus available. Out of 33 state responses, just five offered halal food.
Florida state regulations mandate three meals -- at least two of them hot -- be served to inmates each day, and that "inmates who wish to observe religious dietary laws receive a diet sufficient to sustain them in good health without violating those dietary laws."
The state was already the target of a still-unresolved lawsuit filed last year on behalf of Muslim inmates denied meals in accordance with their diets. Randall Berg, the Florida Justice Institute attorney who filed that suit, said he was considering amending the complaint to include Jewish inmates.
"One of the things we as a society ought to be wanting inmates to do is to get on the right track while they're in prison," he said. "The last thing we want to do is to alienate prisoners from their religious beliefs."
Harry Dammer, a criminal justice professor at the University of Scranton who studies religion in prisons, said he did expect more lawsuits.
"The trend is to come up with this one alternative meal that will sort of encompass all of these parties," he said, "and it's not going to be easy to do."
We can always go back to bread and water.
Is it not against their religious beliefs —stealing, killing, etc.— to end up in prison? Why worry about their religious beliefs when they didn’t!
http://www.aleph-institute.org/programs_for_inmates.htm
The ALEPH Institute arranges kosher food and rehabilitation for prison inmates.
I’m actually skeptical that the state pays for the kosher food to start with.
The applicable law here is the US Constitution. The first ammentment requires the seperation of Church and State. To cater to dietary laws is to violate the law of the land.
Jailed individuals might have a problem with the diet but that is not the prblem of a secular jail. If the food does not meet religous dietary requirements there is the optiopn of not eating.
I think everyone is able to eat bread and water.
“Rabbi Jack Romberg of Temple Israel in Tallahassee, who was a member of a group that reviewed religious dietary accommodations in prisons, noted that unless the vegan food is prepared separately from other meals, it would not satisfy kosher law.”
If they’re so damned concerned about Kosher law, they should have obeyed secular law, and they wouldn’t be in prison having to eat crappy vegetarian meals. Suffer, criminals.
Just more pandering to these terrorist, should have thought about Allah when you were steeling, raping or what ever landed your sorry ass in prison. Eat what’s there are starve I really don’t care.
“’Either you have a choice of violating your own religion beliefs or you’re coerced to only eat vegan’,” Bedier said. “’That’s probably not a reasonable accommodation’.”
Oiy vay!
Prisoners should be served five course meals — with finger bowls... we’ll teach them when they break the law!
When I was in service and anyone asked what was on the menu the answer was almost always:
Cake and c-ck and they just ran out of cake.
I think they should have pork and beans standard with every meal. And pork chops. And pork dumplings.
I sure don’t understand this - IF they were soooooo religious - then, what the HELL are they doing in prison???? Hmmmm?
Rule out all food is prohibited by any religeon and serve them what is left. And prepare by methods approved by all religeons.
That should not offend anyone. Right?
With sauteed mushrooms and onions and grilled bacon! Hahahahaha! I KNOW what I'm having for din-din tonite! :-)
A picture is worth a thousand words..
I am also an adherent of the Church of Ruth’s Chris. It is meat and right so to do!
For cripes sake...they’re in jail. Didn’t they break a couple of rules of their religion to end up there? Well, maybe one religion’s rules...
Well said,well said!!!!!!!!
Well said,well said!!!!!!!!
Uh... They are in prison man! PRISON!!! That means they did something that violates someone's religious beliefs if not their own.
Somehow I don't think the good Lord or Allah (if you prefer) gives a hoot about what you eat after you killed, maimed or raped someone... You really got a black spot on your soul that isn't going away...
Amen !!!
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