Catholic denied kosher meals

[Volokh, Eugene]

	Guzzi v. Thompson, 2007 WL 177854 (D. Mass. Jan. 25), involves a Catholic prisoner who sued under RLUIPA because was denied kosher meals.  The court rejected his argument:  "While keeping kosher within the practice of various sects of Judaism constitutes a religious exercise, keeping kosher itself is not a religion. See Starr v. Cox, No. 05-CV-368-JD, 2006 WL 1575544, *3 (D. N.H. June 5, 2006) (slip copy) (discussing that the practice of Tai Chi itself is not a religion). As a result, Guzzi cannot assert a protected right to keep kosher solely by demonstrating a sincere belief in the need to follow that religious practice.

	"Instead, Guzzi must show that keeping kosher is part of a system of religious belief. See id. at *4 n. 8 (noting that the definition of "religious exercise" under the RLUIPA requires the plaintiff to establish that the exercise is part of a system of religious belief); 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-5 (7)(A). The broad definition of a religious exercise in the RLUIPA does not require that the practice be a core tenet of that religion, but it does require the existence of some belief system from which the practice is derived. See Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 215-15 (1972) (noting when recognizing a religious exercise as protected that a favorable factor is its shared adherence by an organized group); Starr v. Cox, 2006 WL 1575544 at *4 n. 8 (rejecting the plaintiff's ability to claim religious protection based solely on his personal views). Guzzi's purely subjective ideas of what his religion requires will not suffice."

	Eugene