The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced the filing of a notice of appeal in Holt v. Payne challenging the legality of the Arkansas Department of Corrections’ Ramadan food policy.
A few years ago, Arkansas went from providing additional portions for the after-sunset meal (known as iftar) to simply providing a regular dinner portion. As a result, Greg Holt and other Muslim incarcerees not only were unable to satiate themselves after sundown, but during the entire month of Ramadan, they only receive two-thirds of the recommended daily amount of food for adult men.
CAIR says this policy violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, RLUIPA, because it acts as a substantial burden to the sincere religious beliefs of Holt and other Muslims in two ways. First, starving Muslims substantially burdens their beliefs in performing the Ramadan fast itself. Second, failing to provide adequate food for iftar violates their sincere religious belief in satiating themselves at the end of the daily fasting period.
The District Court, adopting in full a Report and Recommendation from a magistrate judge, nevertheless found that failing to adequately feed Muslims during Ramadan did not constitute a substantial burden unless Muslims were actually prevented from hunger from fasting, or suffered some specific medical condition or illness as a result.
“RLUIPA was specifically designed to protect the sincere religious beliefs of incarcerated people,” said CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Justin Sadowsky. “The District Court’s requiring evidence of torture before Muslims can enforce their rights is simply wrong as a matter of law.”
He noted that CAIR offers an educational toolkit, called “A Correctional Institution’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices,” to help correctional officers and administrators gain a better understanding of Islam and Muslims.
SEE: A Correctional Institution’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices
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CONTACT: CAIR Deputy Litigation Director Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425, gabbas@cair.com; CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Justin Sadowsky, 202-742-6440, jsadowsky@cair.com; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com