Nevada judge issues injunction over new prison menu for kosher inmates

February 16, 2012

Nevada: U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro has temporarily halted a new “common-fare” menu from being administered to an Orthodox Jewish inmate who follows a kosher diet. On February 10 she issued the injunction to inmate Howard Ackerman, who is serving a life sentence for kidnapping. In addition, Navarro asked the Department of Corrections to ask the other 292 inmates currently receiving kosher meals if they wished to be included in the injunction.

According to Ackerman’s lawyer, Jacob Hafter, the menu contains sausage and is not issued under rabbinic supervision which renders it non-kosher, thereby violating the First Amendment right of religious freedom. Prison officials say the menu scheduled for release February 21 will save the department about $1.5 million a year. Judge Navarro set a hearing for April 18 on whether to grant class-action status to the case.

See also

• United States District Court for the District of Nevada