FLINT, MI – An attorney is seeking class-action status on behalf of Jewish prisoners in Michigan in a lawsuit that claims they’re being denied kosher certified meals.

Attorneys for the prisoners filed a motion Monday, Oct. 9 in Flint U.S. District Court, seeking class-action status after claiming there are between 50 and 100 prisoners from the Michigan Department of Corrections who have been designated by the prison system as Jewish and approved to get religious meals, but are refused kosher certified meals by the MDOC.

Kosher foods are specially prepared in accordance with Jewish law.

MDOC Director Heidi Washington and other prison officials are named as defendants in the lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2013 on behalf of inmate Michael Arnold by attorney Daniel Manville, who is with the Michigan State University Civil Rights Clinic.

Manville, who could not be reached for comment, claims that MDOC policy forces Jewish prisoners to eat vegan meals that are not made in a kosher manner.

Forcing Jewish inmates to consume non-kosher food that is prepared and served in a non-kosher manner violates the First Amendment and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, Manville argues.

Manville’s motion alleges Arnold and others in the proposed class are deprived of their constitutional and statutory right to freely practice their religion. It also says those rights prevent substantial and unjustified burdens on the religious liberties of state prisoners.

Arnold claims he has been denied meals prepared in a certified kosher manner since July 26, 2013.

A New York-based rabbi visited the Macomb Correctional Facility and wrote an Oct. 1, 2014, email, which is attached to the motion as evidence, to Melody Wallace, manager of the MDOC’s litigation section, outlining a number of potential changes to ensure kosher certified meals.

Some of the potential changes included allowing a rabbi access to the kitchen areas to ensure Kosher ingredients are being used, purchasing pre-washed vegetables certified acceptable by a kosher agency and marking equipment used solely for Kosher cooking.

“I can’t imagine that you want to post a full time Rabbi in each of the facilities with kosher kitchens, but that is the default requirement in this situation,” the email from Rabbi Elisha Rubin said. “I would strongly suggest/recommend that you look into having kosher meals made in volume on an occasional basis in one correctional facility. The meals would be made with a Rabbi present who could control the equipment and labeling and verify that everything is in compliance. These meals can then be refrigerated/frozen/stored (as needed) and distributed to the relevant facilities for when needed. There are ways that food can be sealed as kosher and then reheated in a non-kosher kitchen and still considered kosher. I believe that this is likely to be the fastest and most cost effective route to meeting your legal requirements to provide special kosher meals.”

MDOC Spokesman Chris Gautz did not respond to a request for comment about the motion on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

This isn’t the first time the dietary needs of certain prisoners have resulted in a lawsuit.

The state settled a lawsuit in 2013 filed by the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union over accommodating the dietary needs and worship schedules of Muslim prisoners.

The settlement came in a suit filed in 2006, which alleged corrections officials were failing to adjust Muslim prisoners’ work or school details that conflicted with religious services and then disciplined prisoners who chose to attend services instead of going to their scheduled details. The suit also alleged the state was not making meals available that met religious guidelines.

The class-action suit also included a Seventh-Day Adventist prisoner who alleged prison officials were not allowing him and other Adventist inmates to observe their Saturday Sabbath.

Under the settlement, Muslim prisoners were allowed to request halal meals,  permitted to attend religious services and permitted to celebrate two religious feasts.