Religion News Service
VIRGINIA, USA, January 4, 2007: (Note: This is an important ruling which would apply to Hindus in prison in the US.) An appeals court has affirmed a federal law protecting the religious rights of inmates, denying the state of Virginia’s second request that it be declared unconstitutional. The Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Ira Madison, a Virginia inmate who sued the state after officials denied his request for kosher meals. Madison claims he is a member of the Church of God and Saints of Christ and a Hebrew Israelite who is required to eat a kosher diet. Madison argued that the denial of the kosher meals violated a provision of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. Virginia officials argued that the law is unconstitutional because it exceeds the spending power of Congress, but the appellate panel disagree in its unanimous Dec. 29 decision. “We hold that RLUIPA is a valid exercise of Congress’ spending power and that, because Virginia voluntarily accepted federal correctional funds, it cannot avoid the substantive requirements of RLUIPA,” wrote Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III. He noted that their decision marks the fifth time a federal appeals court has ruled that RLUIPA falls within Congress’ spending power. Virginia officials have doubted the sincerity of Madison’s beliefs and cited a history of disciplinary problems. They earlier had argued that RLUIPA was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. A district court agreed, saying it impermissibly advanced religion. But the 4th Circuit appeals court overturned that decision in 2003.