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Muslim inmates unhappy with food in state's prisons
By Maureen O'Hagan
Seattle Times staff reporter
Do Muslim prison inmates have a right to specialized meals that include meat?
That's the question being asked repeatedly of federal courts in Washington state in a flurry of inmate lawsuits. One case was filed recently by inmate Ronald Keal, and at least three others have been making their way through the courts.
Keal and the others say their religion requires that they eat what's known as "halal" meals, which require slaughter of animals in a tightly proscribed manner.
Some of the lawsuits ask for substantial monetary damages, while others ask for a change in the meal plan along with nominal costs.
Washington state prisons don't give practicing Muslims pork (which is forbidden in their faith) or meat from animals slaughtered improperly. In fact, they don't get any meat at all. Instead, inmates who choose a Muslim diet are on a lacto-ovo vegetarian meal plan, which includes eggs and milk products.
Thus, if a Muslim inmate wants to follow his religion, he has to become a vegetarian. And some inmates just aren't keen on eating so many greens.
Mohamad Joban, president of Washington's Imam Fatwa Committee, which makes rulings on religious issues, said that when he used to visit the prisons as a chaplain, he heard numerous complaints about the diet from Muslim inmates.
He even wrote a letter to prison officials asking for halal meals but didn't make any headway.
"Muslims are encouraged to eat meat," he said. "For them, [a vegetarian diet] is not a solution."
About 4 percent of Washington's prison population — or about 660 inmates — identify themselves as Muslim. A significant number of convicts adopt Islam once incarcerated, according to prison officials.
The state Department of Corrections (DOC) has argued in response to the lawsuits that lacto-ovo vegetarian meals meet the Muslim inmates' religious needs as well as their nutritional needs — which is what the DOC is required to do, said assistant attorney general Brian Maxey, who has handled two of the cases.
Two Muslim experts consulted by the state said there is no requirement that Muslims eat meat, court papers state.
In addition, the DOC argued that providing specialized Muslim meals would cost substantially more than the vegetarian meals and would require hiring additional staff members.
Halal rules require that an animal is calmly put on the ground and petted gently before slaughter, according to Aziz Junejo, a Muslim columnist for The Seattle Times. The animal is cut once across the jugular as a blessing is recited.
The courts agreed with the DOC.
"The fact that the diet designated for Muslim inmates does not contain meat does not alter the fact that [a Muslim inmate] is being provided with a diet which is apparently sufficient to sustain him in good health and which satisfies the dietary laws of his religion," U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler wrote in one case. It was dismissed last month.
A lawsuit in New Jersey resulted in a similar ruling.
Still, the inmates aren't satisfied. Jewish prisoners, the Washington lawsuits point out, are provided kosher meals. That's evidence of unequal treatment, the lawsuits state.
Kenneth Odza, a lawyer representing another inmate in a similar suit, explains, "This case is about [the inmate's] belief that the state is not allowed to favor one religion over another."
The DOC has successfully defended its practices on that front, as well. To be kosher, food has to be prepared with separate utensils in a separate kitchen. The DOC contracts with a vendor to prepare and deliver these meals.
"It's a very expensive system, but it's the only one that meets their religious needs," Maxey said.
Still, he can understand why this might not satisfy Muslim inmates.
"There's a common-sense appeal to that argument," he said of the differences in meals for Jewish and Muslim inmates. "But the prison has to weigh what it can do fiscally and what it can provide."
"We're not infringing on their rights," he said. "It doesn't mean they're thrilled with the result."
A magistrate judge recommended last month that a lawsuit on this topic filed in Eastern Washington should be dismissed, but a final decision has not yet been made.
Keal's lawsuit and another still are being considered.
Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562 or mohagan@seattletimes.com
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