Inmate loses Ramadan observance appeal

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A state appeals court has ruled that Missouri corrections officials didn’t violate an inmate’s rights when they prevented him from taking part in some of the 2010 Ramadan observances.

Inmate John Jones is serving a life sentence at the Jefferson City Correctional Center and had filed a lawsuit, claiming that employees and officials had infringed on his religious liberties to participate “fully” in observing the holiday, the Jefferson City News-Tribune reported.

Prison officials said they had made plans for Muslim inmates for Ramadan, but reminded inmates that those who were placed on cell restriction would be limited in participating in “congregational aspects” of the holiday.

Ramadan is considered the holiest month of the Muslim calendar and is dedicated to fasting, introspection and prayer.

Jones was placed on cell restriction for a few days during Ramadan after receiving a conduct violation for arguing with a corrections officer and disobeying orders.

When his restriction ended, he went to the kitchen for his pre-dawn meal but was told he was removed from the participant list and wasn’t permitted to take pre-dawn breakfast. By the time he ate after sundown, Jones had gone around 24 hours without any food or water.

Jones argued in his lawsuit that he had suffered “severe dehydration, starvation and malnutrition,” while officials argued there wasn’t any evidence of that. A Cole County circuit judge sided with the corrections employees in 2014.

The appeals court said Tuesday that when Jones committed the conduct violation, he chose cell restriction over partaking “in the accommodations (the department) had in place that allowed him to participate” in the group parts of Ramadan.