Lawsuit: Jackson County Sheriff isn't handling Ramadan food properly for Muslim inmate

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office has not been giving a Muslim inmate adequate Ramadan accommodations, according to a lawsuit filed by a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan Chapter alleged the county failed to provide nutritious and sufficiently caloric meals in a timely manner to Marvin Owens while he is fasting for Ramadan and in custody at the county jail.

During Ramadan, which runs from March 10 through April 9, Muslims fast from dawn until sunset each day.

Owens, 34, was not provided a pre-dawn meal or a sunset meal for the first three days of Ramadan at the Jackson County jail, according to the federal lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Instead, he was forced to rely on his own supply of food he bought from the commissary to sustain himself.

Once he began getting his predawn and sunset meals, he was receiving them more than two hours after sunset, and the food did not contain sufficient nutrients or calories, according to the lawsuit.

He believes he was provided about 1,300 to 1,900 calories for the day, which is less than the 2,500 calories recommended for an adult man. The county has allegedly failed to address his concerns about the timing of meals or the amount of calories he is provided, according to the lawsuit.

County officials allegedly acknowledged that Owens wasn't given accommodations until March 13, and gave excuses for why he was not provided a timely sunset meal, the filing stated. They blamed Tigg's Canteen Services for the quality and quantity of the food. Tigg's allegedly either did not respond or said they cannot meet to discuss the situation until later.

Jackson County Undersheriff Christopher Simpson said his office just received the complaint and could not comment on it Thursday.

Tigg's Canteen Services did not respond to a request for comment. Tigg's and Sheriff Gary Schuette, along with two other sheriff's office officials, are named in the lawsuit.

"Defendants' defiance and passing off of the blame amongst themselves for the lack of appropriate accommodations and sufficient nutritious food for Mr. Owens has only prolonged and exacerbated Mr. Owens' plight and condition with no end in sight," according to the lawsuit.

On March 14, the first day Owens received both pre-dawn and sunset meals, he was able to break his fast at 7:43 p.m. but he did not receive his meal until "well after 9:30 p.m.," according to the lawsuit. This meant he was fasting longer than he needed to be, and longer than the time permissible under mainstream Islamic teachings, according to the lawsuit.

"Mainstream Islamic teachings prohibit a Muslim from extending their fast beyond the moment of sunset, and require that an adherent Muslim hasten to break their fast during Ramadan," according to the lawsuit.

Owens also has been served inedible and inappropriate food, including food that was left out, unwrapped and unprotected for some time, food mixed with apple juice or apple sauce. In one case, the food was so degraded that a deputy told Owens he shouldn't eat it and tried to replace it with something else, but was unable to do so.

"Jackson County Jail has a policy for accommodating fasting Muslims, however, are lapse in their application of the policy which resulted in Mr. Owens not receiving food on days he was fasting, obtaining his evening meal late causing him to fast longer than necessary and permissible under mainstream Islamic theology, and providing less food than is necessary nutritionally," according to the lawsuit.

"The diet provided by Jackson County Jail is a starvation diet imposed on Mr. Owens, and it is imposed upon him because he takes his religion seriously and adheres to mainstream Islamic teachings about Ramadan that instructs him and other Muslims to refrain from eating and drinking between dawn and sunset during this month-long religious obligation."

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan CAIR group, said the sheriff's office and the private canteen service they contract with to provide religious accommodations to Muslims are not following the law and are not providing adequate accommodations to fasting Muslims.

"Despite their claims that they take the religious rights and physical health of fasting Muslims seriously, their unwillingness to meet, and their finger pointing prove otherwise," Walid said in a statement. "Jackson County Sheriff's Office must immediately act to ensure that Mr. Owens, and other Muslims in their custody, are provided with healthy and sufficient meals at the beginning and end of their fast."

kberg@detroitnews.com