24 | JULY 16 • 2020
A
Muslim group is advocating for
a Jewish man who was denied a
religious kosher diet while being
housed at the Macomb County Jail in 2017.
In court filings July 6, the Michigan
chapter of the Council on American
Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) announced its
appearance as counsel on behalf of plaintiff
Brandon Resch, who in November 2017
was transferred from Oakland County Jail,
where he was receiving a kosher diet, to
Macomb County Jail. There he requested a
kosher diet, had an interview with the jail’
s
chaplain, and was denied a religious kosher
diet by the jail because he didn’
t have the
ability to write to a rabbi and obtain a “let-
ter of good standing.
”
According to the CAIR-MI court filing,
“Under no circumstances do a person’
s
religious rights depend on whether or not
they are a member in good standing of a
religious organization … Macomb County’
s
policy of requiring an individual housed
in its jail to contact a religious leader — at
their own expense and when they may
not have access to phone numbers and
addresses — to obtain a letter of ‘
good
standing’
prior to being afforded a religious
diet places an undue burden on the indi-
vidual’
s religious practice in violation of the
Constitution and the law.
”
According to CAIR-MI Staff Attorney
Amy V
. Doukoure, Resch reached out to the
group in a series of letters about his troubles
getting kosher meals after saying he had
reached out to Jewish organizations that
didn’
t have the legal staffing to help him.
“The right to maintain a religious diet is
of dear importance to the Muslim commu-
nity,
” Doukoure told the JN.
“On this issue, the Muslim and
Jewish communities are closely
aligned.
”
Rabbi Boruch Zelouf, a
Michigan advocate for the
Aleph Institute, a nonprofit
that assists Jewish prisoners,
told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that
“according to Resch’
s grandmother, Resch
self-proclaimed as Jewish after entering
prison, and that the group therefore does
not consider him Jewish.
”
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, execu-
tive director of the JCRC/AJC,
said neither Resch nor CAIR
had reached out to their orga-
nization, but if approached,
“we would do our utmost to
help,
” he told the JN.
“The JCRC/AJC appreciates
anyone who works with prisoners to assert
their rights and certainly when it comes to
Jewish rituals and kosher food,
” Lopatin
said. “Criminal justice reform is one of
our key advocacy issues, and the ability of
prisoners to practice their religion is a basic
right that all prisoners and people every-
where deserve.
”
Professor Daniel Manville of the Civil
Rights Clinic at Michigan State University
has been engaged in a lawsuit against the
Michigan Department of Corrections for
the past several years to give kosher-obser-
vant prisoners the right to meat and dairy
meals. The court ruled in his favor and he is
working to enforce a settlement agreement
granted in January of this year.
Resch’
s case does not apply to that set-
tlement because he was in a county jail
not run by the Michigan Department of
Corrections, “where there are a different set
of standards for those not yet convicted,
”
according to Manville.
Manville said he spoke to a CAIR-MI
attorney about Resch’
s case. “If the jail uses
this requirement against a Jewish detainee,
it is likely to require it against a Muslim. It
is better to stop something like that when
you have a good factual case,
” he said.
“The fact that he was given a kosher diet in
Oakland County Jail, but not in Macomb,
bolsters the case. Macomb is on shaky
ground.
”
Doukoure added, “The law has never
required anybody to get the approval of
someone else that this is your sincerely held
religious belief; it is only up to the individ-
ual.
”
Doukoure said the motion phase of
Resch’
s case will take place in September
and it could go to trial by the end of the
year.
Lopatin said the JCRC/AJC “will look
into this issue seriously.
”
Muslim Group
Helps Jewish
Prisoner
CAIR-MI joins legal case of
county prisoner denied a kosher diet.
JACKIE HEADAPOHL ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Jews in the D
Amy V.
Doukoure
MACOMB.GOV
Rabbi Asher
Lopatin
“The ability of
prisoners to practice
their religion is a
basic right that all
prisoners and people
everywhere deserve.”
— RABBI ASHER LOPATIN
Macomb
County Jail