In Long v. Sugai, (2d Cir., Feb. 5, 2024), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Hawaii prison sergeant may have violated plaintiff inmate's free exercise rights by delivering his Ramadan meals 4 hours before sundown. The court said in part:
The question in the case before us is not whether serving cold, unappetizing, and possibly unsafe food is cruel and unusual punishment. Rather, it is whether serving such food unconstitutionally burdened Long’s free exercise of his religion....
... [B]y the time Long could eat his evening meal at about 7:30 p.m., the food was often inedible and potentially unsafe, and, if eaten, exacerbated his stomach ulcers. We take judicial notice of the fact that some food cannot safely sit at room temperature for four hours....
... [D]elivery of Long’s evening meal at 3:30 p.m. during Ramadan substantially burdened his free exercise of religion. The district court should have evaluated the four Turner factors to determine whether the burden was justified. Because the court did not conduct that analysis, we remand to allow it to do so. The district court also did not conduct a qualified immunity analysis. If the court concludes, after conducting the Turner analysis, that the burden was not justified, our remand allows the court to conduct a qualified immunity analysis. ...
The court affirmed the district court's dismissal of free exercise claims against another sergeant.
