Religion & American Law

Howard Cosby is currently serving a 19 ½ year sentence that began in 2004 at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institution due to charges of sexual assault and “other crimes”. While at the prison, despite wishing to eat a vegetarian diet due to religious reasons, he was given fish 3 times a week. Cosby complained to the administration, to which they replied that the department does not consider fish to be meat, therefore his diet is indeed vegetarian! Cosby then proceeded to pen a letter to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) detailing his experience. PETA then wrote a letter to the warden, Scott Erfe, asking that fish be removed from his diet, citing the Federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. This act, which was passed in 2000, requires that prisons “avoid imposing substantial burdens on inmates’ religious exercises”. In addition, the prison’s directives require that an inmate’s diet meet certain nutritional requirements and not contain “food items forbidden by religious dogma.”

            The question as to whether fish is meat or not is something I cannot nor will attempt to answer. While answering this question will allow us to determine whether the prison’s actions clearly violate their own directives, it is ultimately a red herring, as there are other issues to consider when trying deciding if the prison should accommodate his religious practice. One such issue is something that has been mentioned in prior Supreme Court cases that we have covered, and that is the issue of sincerity. In past Supreme Court cases, United States v. Seeger and United States vs Ballard for example, the Supreme Court was not interested in assessing the merit of the belief. Rather, they only wished to assess whether the belief was sincerely held. Assessing sincerity is important, for if someone claiming to be denied religious freedom is deemed insincere, then their entire argument falls apart. Cosby’s sincerity can definitely be brought into question in this case. Cosby claims that he wishes to maintain a vegetarian diet as part of the “Buddhist lifestyle of non-violence”, yet he is in jail for sexual assault, a violent crime, and has enlisted help from PETA, an organization with a history of violence. Therefore, it seems as though the “Buddhist lifestyle of non-violence” may be of little interest to him, and that his religious validation may be a false pretense, and he is more interested in animal rights than in non-violence. However, while I do think that it is sometimes necessary to assess the sincerity of one’s religious belief, as difficult as it may be, I feel it is a “slippery slope” and that it could quickly devolve into incessant poking of holes into peoples past conduct. A question I thus have is to what degree is it ok to question someone else’s religious sincerity?

            Another issue that needs to be considered is one of safety. If the prison were to provide him a vegetarian diet, it could potentially single Cosby out, as the other inmates could view this as preferential treatment, something they may not appreciate. A visible pacifist may not be safe in a prison environment, which could therefore lead to fights that put both the staff at the prison and the inmates, including Cosby himself, in danger. Therefore, providing him with vegetarian food could pose a serious safety hazard to everyone who is at the prison.

            Whether or not this is a violation of the Federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons act is a matter of perspective, as it depends on what constitutes “substantial burdens on inmates’ religious exercises”.  Due to these issues, I do not think that Cosby is entitled to a vegetarian diet. While denying a vegetarian meal to someone practicing a non-violent Buddhist lifestyle may be a violation of the First Amendment in itself, if Cosby does not truly have the religious beliefs in the first place, then it is a moot point. In addition, even if Cosby was thought to be sincere in his beliefs, providing him with a vegetarian meal could potentially put many people, including him, in danger. While it would be nice to provide him with vegetarian meals so he can freely practice his supposed religion, I feel that there are too many risks involved with letting that happen.

            What do you all think? Is Cosby sincere? Does it matter if he is sincere? Is my assessment of prisoner politics correct? Is fish meat? Please share your thoughts.