On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute President Calls on Texas Governor to Respect First Amendment Rights of Jewish Prison Inmates
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--In a recent letter to Texas Governor Rick Perry, John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, has expressed his concern over the failure of Texas prison officials to accommodate the religious beliefs of Jewish inmate Bobby Earl Neble and other Texas inmates while allegedly accommodating those of Muslim inmates. The letter urges Gov. Perry to take steps to ensure that Texas prison officials honor their legal obligation to respect the religious rights of Jewish inmates. A copy of the letter is available here."As the Supreme Court has ruled, prison inmates are entitled to have their religious beliefs and practices accommodated, under the First Amendment's guarantee to free exercise of religion," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "States have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure that prison inmates are allowed to practice their religion, especially if the corrections systems are to achieve the ultimate goal of rehabilitating inmates."
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, prison inmate Bobby Earl Neble alleged that the State of Texas and its corrections officials failed to provide Jewish prisoners with meals that comply with the tenets of Judaism. Whitehead's letter was issued in response to a recent legal filing by Texas state officials to have Neble's case dismissed. Texas officials are challenging as unconstitutional the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which forbids state governments from imposing requirements upon prisoners that substantially burden their rights to freely exercise their religion unless the state has a compelling interest for doing so. In voicing his concerns over the Texas prison officials' failure to accommodate Jewish prisoners' religious beliefs, as well as the state's challenge to RLUIPA, Whitehead pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of the federal law in Cutter v. Wilkinson and determined that it is constitutional and binding on the states. Calling on Gov. Perry to abide by federal law and the Supreme Court's recent RLUIPA ruling, Whitehead points out that in light of charges that the prisons are able to meet the special dietary needs of Muslim prisoners, it should not be unreasonable to provide food that complies with the religious beliefs of Jewish prisoners.
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