Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Michigan Prisoners Sue For Kosher Meals

(JTA) — Jews incarcerated in Michigan prisons are seeking class-action status in a lawsuit that claims they are being denied kosher meals.

The lawsuit filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in Flint, Michigan against the Michigan Department of Corrections claims there are 50 to 100 Jewish prisoners approved to get kosher meals and that requests to receive them have been refused by the corrections department.

The lawsuit originally was filed in 2013 on behalf of inmate Michael Arnold by attorney Daniel Manville, who is with the Michigan State University Civil Rights Clinic, the MLive news website reported. That lawsuit charged that the prisoners were forced to eat vegan meals instead of kosher ones.

The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union announced in 2013 that it had reached a final settlement with the Michigan Department of Corrections officials over accommodating the dietary needs and worship schedules of Muslim prisoners, including providing Halal meals and giving time for prayers. The lawsuit in that case had been filed in 2006.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.