By David Royse
The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — A Jewish prisoner’s lawsuit seeking a kosher meal plan in Florida prisons can go forward, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
Bruce Rich, an orthodox Jew serving a life sentence at Union Correctional Institution for the murder of his parents, allegedly for insurance money, sued the Department of Corrections and other defendants in 2010. He argued that the meal choices offered by the prison system, which didn’t include a kosher plan, violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
The federal trial court issued a summary judgment against Rich after state prison officials submitted affidavits arguing it was too costly to offer kosher meals, and that it was a security risk because it could lead to retaliation against inmates getting kosher meals if other inmates believed the kosher food was of higher quality.
Rich appealed that ruling to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which on Tuesday overruled the summary judgment and sent the case back to the district court for further proceedings.
Full story: Appeals court revives lawsuit of inmate demanding kosher meals