Muslim Inmate Can Sue Prison Staff, Court Rules

A federal appeals court ruled that a Philadelphia prison staff who punished a Muslim inmate when he refused to handle pork are not immune to the religious-freedom lawsuit filed by the inmate.

According to inmate Henry Williams, he lost his job as a prison cook and was confined to his cell for 30 days after he rejected to handle roast pork they were serving for dinner.

During his confinement, Williams missed many prison events including religious meetings and was reassigned to a lower-paying janitorial job.

Other inmate-cooks respected Williams’ religious concerns by assigning him other duties when pork was being prepared in the kitchen or served for dinner. However, prison staff ordered Williams to handle the pork telling him he could wear gloves as the other Muslim prisoners did.

Williams was disciplined after he refused and an appeal within the prison justice system failed. However, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which had never judged such as case, ruled that defendants (the prison staff) should “respect, and accommodate when practicable” Williams’ and other inmate’s religious concerns.

The court ruled that the prison staff is not immune to the lawsuit based on constitutional rights filed by Williams. The lawsuit seeks back pay for his cook’s job, a clean conduct record, a stop to religious harassment, and unspecified damages.

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