Denver, USA - A Muslim inmate won a religious-rights battle when a federal judge ordered he should be fed an appropriate diet and be allowed to wear a headpiece consistent with Islamic teachings.
Ronald A. Vashone Caruso, a convicted murderer and robber, is a life-term inmate at Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Crowley County who converted to Islam in 1988.
U.S. District Court Judge Marcia S. Krieger handed down the ruling late Monday, criticizing the Colorado Department of Corrections as appearing to comply with religious requests only when sued. In the past, the judge noted, the CDOC provided kosher meals to Jews and vegan meals to Wiccans only after legal action.
"(The) CDOC makes specialized menus available to certain inmates on religious grounds, although the record appears to reflect that it has only done so in anticipation of or in response to a court order," she wrote.
Caruso filed the lawsuit nearly 10 years ago and worked on it alone until attorneys Mark Baker and Diane King picked it up on a pro-bono basis.
"He is glad the court recognized the importance of Islam in his life, and he hopes that the DOC will take the opportunity to elevate its willingness to accommodate the practice of religion in their facilities," Baker read Tuesday from a statement Caruso prepared.
The state attorney general's office, which represented the CDOC, is reviewing the judge's decision.
"We are making a decision as to whether there will be an appeal," said spokeswoman Kristen Hubbell.
Caruso has minimum-security status at the prison and works as a janitor. Prison officials say he does not pose a discipline problem.
In the 1970s, Caruso shot a liquor-store clerk during a robbery.
He escaped prison in 1974 while on leave for his stepfather's funeral by locking an officer in the trunk of a car.
After his capture, he tried to escape the Denver County Jail and stabbed two deputies,
fatally wounding Deputy John D. Osborne.
Caruso filed a lawsuit when his request for a diet that includes halal red meat was denied. Islam requires that the meat be from an herbivore that is slaughtered in a humane manner. Muslims can eat a vegetarian diet but are encouraged to eat meat because it is believed to be a gift from God.
A kosher diet, which is already provided to Jewish inmates, would suffice. However, prison officials told Caruso that he could not receive a kosher meal unless he changed his religious designation to Judaism on record. Caruso refused.
Prison lawyers said Caruso was eating foods that were not halal from the prison canteen, including nacho chips and spicy beef sausage.
"He may have strayed from the teachings of his faith - even repeatedly," Krieger wrote in her ruling. "These purchases demonstrate carelessness at best, and spiritual weakness at worst, but they do not suggest that his intent to adhere to Islamic law of a halal diet is somehow insincere."
Prison authorities also viewed his request to wear a kufi skullcap as a safety concern.
The judge gave the CDOC several alternatives to meet the religious requirements of appropriate Islamic headgear but left the decision up to prison officials as to how they would accommodate Caruso.