Allen County changes policy on meals for religious needs

ACLU faulted policy denying special foods for religious-based diets

Posted: October 9, 2013 - 12:46pm
By The Associated Press

IOLA — After complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union, Allen County on Wednesday changed its policy that said inmates at the county jail “could simply choose not to eat” if they didn’t want food provided that did not adhere to their religious preferences.

Doug Bonney, legal director of the ACLU Foundation of Kansas, said Allen County officials notified the ACLU on Wednesday they would delete an entry in the county’s jail handbook that said: “No one will be allowed to have special food for diets based on religious or other related reasons. You can simply choose not to eat.”

Bonney said the ACLU Foundation of Kansas found the Allen County policy while reviewing policies at several other Kansas jails. He said the meals policy is unconstitutional and required inmates to “choose between starvation and remaining true to their religious creeds.”

The policy violates state and federal laws that require jails to accommodate religious beliefs of inmates, Bonney said in an emailed statement.

http://cjonline.com/news/2013-10-09/allen-county-changes-policy-meals-religious-needs