PETA Backs Buddhist Prisoner’s Fish-Free Campaign in Connecticut

by Mark Wilson

“Clearly fish is meat,” said Jeff Kerr, an attorney for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “They have thoughts. They have interests. They have a central nervous system. They are not swimming vegetables.”

Connecticut prison officials apparently disagree, at least when it comes to prisoner Howard Cosby.

Cosby, 35, is practicing vegetarianism as part of his Buddhist lifestyle of nonviolence. As such, Cosby requested a vegetarian diet to accommodate his religious practice. Prison officials purportedly granted his request, but serve him fish three times a week.

Like PETA, Cosby recognized that “clearly fish is meat” and therefore, he was not being served his requested vegetarian diet. When Cosby attempted to resolve the issue administratively, prison officials dismissed his complaints, stating that his diet is classified as vegetarian because the Connecticut Department of Corrections (CDOC) does not consider fish to be meat.

So Cosby wrote PETA, asking for their help and they obliged. On September 3, 2013, PETA sent a letter to Scott Erfe, warden of the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institution, requesting that fish be removed from Cosby’s diet. PETA invoked the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), noting that prison officials are prohibited from imposing substantial burdens on a prisoner’s religious exercises.

While acknowledging that not all Buddhists are vegetarians, Kerr informed Erfe that Cosby falls within the scope of the law because his vegetarianism furthers his Buddhist nonviolence teachings. It also furthers Buddhist “mindfulness” teachings – prohibiting killing, supporting any act of killing, even fish, and requiring mindful-consumption – which brings Cosby’s request into the heart of RLUIPA territory.

One would think the simplest way to avoid a ridiculous, unnecessary lawsuit is to just stop serving Cosby fish, right? Apparently it’s not quite that simple. The issue was under review by the Religious Issue Review Committee, according to CDOC spokesman Andrius Banevicius.

In late September 2013, PETA received a letter from Deputy Warden Giuliana Mudano stating that the prison would provide a nutritionally-adequate vegetarian substitute for Cosby whenever fish appeared on the menu.

Source:Associated Press