January 24, 2008
Source: Capitol Media Services
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2008/01/24/news/doc4798227982050939942206.txt
PHOENIX — Arizona prison officials need to show a real hardship if they want to deny halal meals to a Muslim inmate, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
In a unanimous ruling, the judges overturned a lower court decision which accepted the claims of the state Department of Corrections that providing the meals to Amin Shakur would create additional costs and administrative burdens. The appellate judges said there was no evidence that the state actually looked into the real cost.