FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): A Muslim who is a former inmate at the Allen County jail is now suing Sheriff David Gladieux for violating his religious rights.
The Journal Gazette reports James Cummings is accusing the jail for not providing “adequate accommodations” for him to practice his religion, which includes prayer five times a day and not eating pork. He claims he wasn’t allowed to participate in prayer services during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, nor was he given a prayer cloth.
Court documents say that while Cummings was jailed for burglary between July and September 2014, Christian inmates were allowed to hold weekly group religious services while Muslims had to pray alone in their cells.
The Sheriff’s Department declined the paper’s request for comment.
1 comment
Just as there are limits to free speech, e.g. you can’t yell fire in a crowded room, there must be limits to religious freedom. We cannot accommodate every religion’s full requirements. It strikes me that Cummings wasn’t prevented from practicing his religion, he merely was restricted from practicing his religion anywhere. He was required to practice his religion in his cell which is not an unreasonable request. And as to the Christians, it’s not clear they were given special privileges. Further they only practiced their religion a single day a week whereas Cummings was given the opportunity to practice daily. Neither religion seems to have had special privileges to me.