Beasley v. Konteh, 2006 WL 1554582 (N.D.Ohio, June 8, 2006) is an interesting prisoner free exercise case decided by a federal district court in Toledo, Ohio. Convicted murderer James Beasley claims that he is an Orthodox Jew. However because he was neither born Jewish nor converted, local Jewish organizations do not consider him Jewish for purposes of furnishing him pastoral care services. So Beasley seeks to be formally converted, which a local rabbi is willing to do. However this requires that Beasley be transported to a local synagogue where he can undergo immersion in a mikvah as part of the conversion ceremony. Prison authorities refuse to transport Beasley out of the prison because of administrative and security concerns. The court upheld the warden's decision, saying that neither the Constitution nor federal statutes require that a prisoner be allowed to leave prison to participate in a religious ceremony.
The court, however, did permit Beasley to move ahead with his claim that prison authorities threaten to cut his beard and sidelocks in violation of his religious beliefs, though prison officials say they are now treating him as Jewish and have granted him an exception to the prison's grooming regulations. Yesterday's Toledo Blade covered the decision.
