article: On May 3, 2017, Jewish prisoners at the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) filed a putative class action complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho. The plaintiffs sued the Director of the Idaho Department of Corrections and several agents of the IDOC under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), and state law, namely, the Free Exercise of Religion Protected Act. The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU, sought declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief as well as attorneys’ fees and costs. The case was assigned to Judge Candy W. Dale. The plaintiffs alleged that, in refusing to offer Kosher meals to prisoners, the defendants had imposed a substantial burden on the plaintiffs’ religious practice. Specifically, they alleged that the defendants had violated RLUIPA, the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth amendment and the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. On May 4, 2017, the plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary injunction, seeking to require the defendants to provide a kosher diet option without charge for prisoners at all Idaho Department of Correction facilities. On July 11, 2017, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, or, alternatively, for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiffs’ state law claims were barred by the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution and that their state law claims for monetary relief were barred for the failure to file a notice of tort claim. After reaching a partial settlement, the parties jointly filed a motion for entry of an order dismissing all of the plaintiffs’ class action claims. The parties also posed a joint stipulation of their settlement agreement to create a new kosher diet system. Entitled the Common Fare No Touch menu, this diet system consisted of a majority of meals that were pre-packaged or double-sealed frozen meals that were kosher certified. The parties also agreed that the plaintiffs’ counsel would monitor compliance for at least six months. On August 17, 2017, Judge Dale entered an order adopting the stipulation, dismissing the claims and deeming as moot the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction. The court would retain jurisdiction to enforce the agreement. In October 2017, the plaintiffs agreed to allow judgment to be taken against them in exchange for the sum of $93,000, including all accrued costs and attorney’s fees. The court entered such judgment. On December 26, 2017, the defendants agreed that the monitoring period of the new diet system would end on June 1, 2018. As of October 23, 2018, there are no new entries on the docket that would suggest noncompliance. The case is presumably closed.
summary: This 2017 class action lawsuit was filed by Jewish prisoners in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho. The plaintiffs alleged that, in refusing to offer Kosher meals to prisoners, the defendants had imposed a substantial burden on the plaintiffs’ religious practice. In October 2017, the parties reached a settlement where the defendant would provide kosher meals to Jewish prisoners and award $93,000 in damages and attorneys' fees to the plaintiffs. The case is presumably closed.