In Ford v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61978 (D CO, June 10, 2011), a Colorado federal district court accepted a magistrate's recommendations (2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62014, May 24, 2011), and dismissed a complaint by a Nation of Islam inmate that he was not receiving a nutritionally adequate diet consistent with his religious beliefs. The court concluded that plaintiff had failed to show that his beliefs were sincerely held since he purchased food from the commissary that was inconsistent with his claimed dietary requirements.
In Marzuq v. Loury, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62495 (D NJ, June 6, 2011), a Muslim inmate brought a free exercise claim contending that participation in the prison's Therapeutic Community was inconsistent with his religious beliefs. The court held that since the remedy plaintiff sought was restoration of good time credits that he lost when he was expelled from the TC program, he should have brought the suit as a habeas corpus action after exhausting state remedies.
In two opinions in Mahone v. Pierce County, 2011 U.S. Dist LEXIS 62619 and 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62588 (WD WA, June 10, 2011), a Washington federal district court adopted magistrate's recommendations (2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62617, May 23, 2011 and 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62589, May 24, 2011) and dismissed various claims from an inmate who claimed to be an African American Hebrew adherent of Judaism that he was being denied a kosher diet. Prison officials concluded that plaintiff's claims were not based on sincerely held religious beliefs.
In Gordon v. Lee, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63433 (WD LA, June 16, 2011), a Louisiana federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63618, May 17, 2011) and dismissed a complaint by an inmate that he was not able to practice his Rastafarian religion. He was the only Rastafarian at the two facilities in which he had been incarcerated. Plaintiff sought a transfer to a different prison facility where he could practice his religion.
