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Here's my thread on religious diets and jail and the Q-shaman guy.
1. Understand that judges in criminal courts have no ability to order a jail to really do anything. The jail isn't before the court and the judge has no jurisdiction. Now, practically, DOCs aren't interested
1. Understand that judges in criminal courts have no ability to order a jail to really do anything. The jail isn't before the court and the judge has no jurisdiction. Now, practically, DOCs aren't interested
in antagonizing their local judges, so if the court brings something to their attention, the DOC might try to fix it. But the criminal case judge can't ORDER them to do anything.
2. But that doesn't mean that people who are in jail have no recourse. They are protected by both the US Constitution and some specific laws, like the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
3. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) provides stronger protections than the First Amendment.
4. Under RFRA, if someone has a genuine religious belief, the government can't substantially burden that belief unless it can show a really important reason.
So, let's break that down.
So, let's break that down.
5. A genuine belief doesn't have to in a common religion and it doesn't have to be approved of by any religious authority. You can be a religion of one. You can have weird ideas. You can be "theologically wrong." You can fall short of perfection in your practice.
So, an example. If I go to jail and say that I'm a Sabbath observant Jew, the government could point to this thread to show that I use electronics on Saturdays. But they couldn't use a Reform rabbi to say that Reform theology doesn't require abstaining from electronics on Shabbat
And, if @AkivaMCohen goes to jail, they couldn't find that maybe one time he flicked on a light by mistake (made up, he wouldn't do that) to show he's not Shabbat observant.
6. So does Q-shaman dude really have a belief that he is required to eat organic food? I don't know and neither do you. But it sure seems like he might. If he sues (more on that coming), the government might try to show he didn't by interviewing his friends, looming at his past
behavior, deposing him.... But it's pretty hard to prove that someone doesn't believe something. And the fact that he's a religion of one doesn't remove him from the protection of RFRA.
Looking at his past. Obviously.
7. Is the slightly added cost of providing organic food a good enough reason for the jail to not to give it too him? No.
Remember, organic ≠ Whole Foods produce. (That's a different rant). Plenty of cheap stuff is certified organic & easy to get. https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signature-organic-peanut-butter,-28-oz,-2-count.product.100334334.html
Remember, organic ≠ Whole Foods produce. (That's a different rant). Plenty of cheap stuff is certified organic & easy to get. https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signature-organic-peanut-butter,-28-oz,-2-count.product.100334334.html
8. Bottom line, yeah, he's probably (assuming he really believes what he says) entitled to organic food while he's incarcerated.
9. RFRA only applies to the federal and it DC systems. States are covered by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) but they are essentially the same rule.
10. Wrapping back to #1, how do you enforce this right?
Well, now we've got to talk about the Prison Litigation Reform Act, the PLRA.
Well, now we've got to talk about the Prison Litigation Reform Act, the PLRA.
There's so much to say about this awful law (repeal it!) but the first thing it does is say that any prisoner who wants to enforce a federal right has to "exhaust" all internal jail remedies.
https://twitter.com/ScottMedlock3/status/1355560066586468352?s=19
As Scott said, the rules are usually opaque and the process takes a really long time.
As Scott said, the rules are usually opaque and the process takes a really long time.
Here's the 30 pages of rules for the DC DOC https://doc.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/doc/publication/attachments/PP%204030.1I%20Inmate%20Grievance%20Procedures%2010-04-2014.pdf
11. Once he does all the procedures, which at the fastest takes a few months, he can go to civil court.
12. As a practical matter, if he's in DC (pretty sure he's been moved here, but honestly the guy doesn't deserve my detailed attention) he can go to DC Superior Court without PLRA exhaustion to make a case under DC local law that he's entitled to a religious diet.
I'm not aware of any DC local case law on the subject. But the DC Human Rights Act is pretty broad with a lot of play in the joints.
In any case, DC DOC is usually pretty good about accommodating religious diet, so I don't it would come to suit here. But you know, if I could accurately predict the future....
