Inmate wins battle in quest for religious garment, meals

<p>A Georgia prison inmate who describes himself as a "Torah-observant Jew" has won a battle in his effort to wear a yarmulke at all times and be served kosher food.</p><p>The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta unanimously upheld as constitutional a law passed by Congress that requires state prisons receiving federal funds to refrain from restricting inmates in the exercise of their religion.</p><p>The ruling, handed down Thursday, was a victory for Ralph Benning, 40, who is serving a life sentence for murder in Fulton County.</p><p>"Prisoners should not be forced to check their religion, along with their civilian clothing, at the jailhouse doorstep," said Jared Leland, lawyer for the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, a public-interest law firm that represents Benning.</p><p>"Religion is often the root of rehabilitation and so prisoners should and must be free to practice," Leland said.</p><p>The Georgia Attorney General's office had asked the court to find that the federal law violates states' rights.</p><p>But Judge Bill Pryor wrote that Congress "unambiuously" conditioned the award of federal money for state prisons based on them accommodating the religious exercise of prisoners.</p><p>Benning's case now returns to U.S. Magistrate James Graham in Brunswick, who must decide whether to require the state prison system to allow Benning to wear religious headwear and be served kosher food.</p><p>Russ Willard, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's office, said his office has informed the state Department of Corrections about the ruling.</p><p>"We're currently consulting with them about what the state's next step will be," Willard said.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2865b38)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/12/155649