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| Appeals court backs inmate's religion rights |
| By Roanoke Times |
| Published: 12/15/2003 |
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A Richmond inmate challenged the Virginia Department of Corrections for denying him a kosher diet. A federal appeals court has ruled that part of a law that protects the religious rights of inmates does not unconstitutionally advance religious freedom over other First Amendment rights. In an opinion issued last Monday, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and sent back an earlier ruling written by federal Judge James Turk in Roanoke. "Our society has a long history of accommodation with respect to matters of belief and conscience," the opinion said. "If Americans may not set their beliefs above the law, there must be room to accommodate belief and faith within the law." Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, hailed the ruling as "an important decision upholding a federal law that protects the rights of prisoners to practice their religion." The law applies to all inmates housed in institutions that receive federal funding, which includes all Virginia state prisons and some local and regional jails, Willis said. Although the commonwealth said last Monday it will not appeal the case, different opinions in other federal appeals courts around the United States could mean the case will wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case stemmed from the federal claim of inmate Ira Madison, who is serving a sentence for cocaine possession at Powhatan Correctional Facility near Richmond. Madison, who is a Hebrew Israelite, challenged the Virginia Department of Corrections for denying him a kosher diet, which he said is required by his faith. The congregation is based in Suffolk, and its believers say they are "followers of the Anointed God," but do not worship Jesus Christ, according to the opinion. Madison argued that under a federal law called the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, governments are not allowed to impose a burden on the religious exercise of people housed in institutions unless there is a compelling reason to do so. In January, Turk was the first judge in the United States to declare that portion of the law unconstitutional. Turk ruled that the law advanced the religious rights of prisoners over other rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. But in reversing Turk's decision, the three-judge panel for the 4th Circuit in Richmond ruled that the law "in no way is attempting to indoctrinate prisoners in any particular belief or to advance religion in federal prisons." The law lifted restrictions only on the free exercise of religion for inmates, the panel continued. The opinion, which was written by federal appeals Judge Harvie Wilkinson, essentially voids Turk's ruling within the 4th Circuit, unless the case is appealed again. But Carrie Cantrell, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, said the commonwealth would not pursue the case further. |
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