Federal judge to Colorado prisons: Serve kosher food to Jewish inmates

The Associated Press

01.31.00

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DENVER — Colorado prisons must serve kosher meals to Jewish prisoners at no charge, a federal judge has ruled.

Three Jewish inmates at the Fremont Correctional Facility sued the state in 1995 because the Department of Corrections demanded they pay $90 a month and prove their faith before they could get kosher food.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock of Denver ruled on Jan. 28 that the $90 charge was based on faulty math and was unfairly high because prisoners have little income.

The judge also ruled, citing testimony of rabbis, that the prisoners are sincere in their beliefs.

Babcock said prison officials had violated the prisoners' constitutional right to freedom of religion by failing to provide kosher meals.

The lawsuits were filed by inmates Charles Beerheide, Sheldon Perlman and Allen Isaac Fistell.