Thursday, July 14, 2016

That was fast: Kosher meals case decided two days after argument.

Judge Pryor, writing for a unanimous 11th Circuit after oral argument earlier in the week, upheld Judge Seitz' order granting summary judgment to the United States, requiring Florida to make kosher meals available to Jewish inmates.  The writing was on the wall after the OA.  From the intro:
 This appeal requires us to decide whether the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc et seq., prevents the Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections from denying kosher meals to inmates whose sincere religious beliefs require them to keep kosher. After the United States sued the Secretary to compel the Department to provide kosher meals, but before the entry of an injunction, the Secretary voluntarily created a religious diet program. Even so, the Secretary continues to insist that the Department need not provide kosher meals because denying them is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest in containing costs. But the Secretary’s argument lacks any support in the record. We affirm the summary judgment for the United States and the permanent injunction requiring the Secretary to provide kosher meals to the inmates.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Another loss for the Scott administration.