Judge orders MCC to provide Ramadan meals to inmates

A federal judge last week ordered the Monroe Correctional Complex to comply with the dietary restrictions of four Muslim inmates observing Ramadan.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sued the Washington Department of Corrections last week, after the Muslim MCC inmates reported they hadn’t been provided the meals they signed up to receive after sundown during most of the month-long observance of Ramadan.

The month of Ramadan began on May 16 and ended June 15. The holiday is considered the holiest month for Muslims, who don’t eat or drink from sunup until sundown for the duration.

CAIR reported in a news release that the men experienced symptoms of starvation, including substantial weight loss of more than 20 pounds on average.

“Muslims believe Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, self-improvement, and increased devotion and worship,” according to the lawsuit filed in Seattle on Sunday, June 10.

U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton issued his ruling the same day, finding corrections officials had failed to provide adequate nutrition and accommodate the plaintiffs’ “sincere religious beliefs,” according to the emergency order that required the state Department of Corrections to comply with the Muslim inmates’ restricted eating schedule. Fasting during the month of Ramadan “is a religious obligation that is compulsory for all healthy adult Muslims,” according to the CAIR news release.

“We welcome the federal court’s swift intervention, which will bring this health crisis to an end and ensure that Muslim inmates are not starved and brutalized for practicing the fundamental principles of their faith,” said Lena Masri, CAIR national litigation director, in the news release.

Plaintiff Demario Roberts reportedly applied for the Ramadan Meal Program and the Ramadan Daily Prayer Program. He was able to participate in the prayer program on the first day, according to the complaint, but that night he was reportedly told he wasn’t on the meals list and was refused food. Roberts again requested to be added, but was then allegedly denied and also removed from the prayer program.

The lawsuit states Roberts saved and hid half a dozen breakfast meals, which are about 1,300 calories, several of which were later found and confiscated because they were taken outside of meal policy.

According to the lawsuit, the four plaintiffs would need to consume between 2,600 to 2,800 calories each day in accordance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 recommendations for someone of their their age, sex and activity levels. Some days the men reportedly ate nothing.

Plaintiff Naim Lao was allegedly told by Washington State Reformatory sergeants he would be force-fed, if he did not break his fast. He didn’t eat for eight days. He reportedly lost 14 pounds, and Roberts lost 15, according to the complaint.

Lao reportedly never saw the memorandum sent out announcing this year’s sign-up for Ramadan programs. He asked how to get on the list but was allegedly never given instructions.

“Ramadan participant approval will be based on participation in Islamic/Muslim religious programming over the past six months or those currently on a halal menu,” according to the memo as stated in the lawsuit.

In the memo, facility chaplains and Muslim Chaplain Derek Rasheed were listed as having discretion over who would qualify for the meals, according to the lawsuit. Inmates were required to sign up by Jan. 30 to take Ramadan meals.

Plaintiff Mohamed Mohamed reportedly experienced similar treatment during Ramadan while at the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center.

Washington DOC communications director Jeremy Barclay wrote in a prepared statement that more than 450 of the agency’s inmates participated in the Ramadan diet, iftar. One in every six of them are housed at the Monroe Correctional Complex, he wrote.

“The Washington Department of Corrections takes very seriously the health and welfare of those sentenced to incarceration in the department’s correctional facilities and was immediately responsive to the court order,” Barclay wrote. 

The Washington agency has policies in place to meet the needs of inmates during religious holidays, Barclay wrote.