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Public Interest Projects
New York Law Journal
March 28, 2008
Three years ago when he first heard from a lawyer colleague about the plight of Muslim inmates in Westchester County jails who had filed a series of pro se federal lawsuits claiming violation of their rights to meals prepared according to Islamic ritual, Richard B. Cohen made a trip to Valhalla to assess the situation.
"I heard them out, and I decided they were right - they'd been wronged," said Mr. Cohen, a commercial litigation partner with the New York office of Fox Rothschild who has been interested in prison reform issues since his student days at New York Law School.
The inmates - nine U.S.-born, non-Arab men awaiting trial - had been denied meals in accordance with the Koran, whereas Jewish inmates were routinely served Kosher meals upon request.
Halal (Arabic for "permissable") dietary rules govern the preparation of meat and poultry for observant Muslims in nearly the exact ways as Kosher meals for observant Jews. In fact, the Westchester inmates had asked for Kosher meals, according to court papers, but were refused by jail officials.
Mr. Cohen assembled a pro bono team that included Fox Rothschild associates Melissa A. Youngman and Samatha H. Evans. They pressed the matter as a consolidated suit, claiming violation of the inmates' constitutional rights under equal protection and religious freedom provisions, as well as violation of the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
On March 12, in Perez v. Westchester County Department of Corrections, 05 CV 8120, Southern District Judge Richard M. Berman approved a settlement whereby any Muslim inmate may now request and must receive Halal meals.
The settlement represents a "significant departure from current case law with respect to Muslim inmates' equal protection rights to receive Halal meals containing Halal meat, as opposed to a vegetarian diet, which up until this case was arguably the constitutionally reasonable alternative meal plan," according to Mr. Cohen.
The additional cost of accommodating observant Muslim inmates, whose numbers average about 110 of a jail population of some 1,500, was a topic of concern during motion conferences, according to Christie L. D'Alessio, staff attorney with the Westchester County Attorney's Office.
In 2005 when litigation began, Ms. D'Alessio said the supply of Halal meats for distribution by vendors to jails and prisons was "limited and the price was very high, with case law confirming."
The per-meal price then ran $3.50 to $4.25, compared with $1.44 for non-Halal meals. Kosher meals for an average of 37 Jewish inmates was the same as Halal. But the price differential, said Ms. D'Alessio, has dropped to about 50 cents additional for Kosher and Halal.
There were "safety issues" as well as cost, said Ms. D'Alessio. She said inmates might horde Halal or Kosher meals, both of which have long shelf lives, and use them for barter or to "pass to other inmates during a hunger strike."
Mr. Cohen dismissed such concern as an "exploding matzah ball" theory.
With "baby boomer" lawyers born in the wake of World War II expected to flood the ranks of retirees over the next decade or two, the Pro Bono Institute launched its "Second Act Project" in 2005 to help those interested in volunteering for public interest law.
This month, the Washington, D.C.-based institute announced a competitive grant process for poverty law agencies to develop pilot programs for retiring attorneys - especially those from large firms.
With funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, $160,000 in grant money will be distributed annually over the next three years. For application details, visit www.probonoinst.org/secondacts.php.
"If only 5 percent of these lawyers transition to public interest practice," according to a statement from Esther F. Lardent, executive director of the institute, "the number of lawyers available to meet the legal needs of low-income and underserved communities will double."
A new fellowship open to Columbia Law School graduates pursuing legal academic careers in health and human rights law has been created by the Center for Reproductive Rights. One fellowship will be awarded this year, to commence in July.
Fellows will have work space at the center's Wall Street offices, as well as at the Columbia Law campus in Morningside Heights. They will be expected to produce a work of serious scholarship during their tenure of up to two years, at an annual stipend of $55,000. In addition, fellows will have duties in planning and hosting seminars.
Fellows will gain "valuable real world and academic experience, preparing them to be future leaders in the growing reproductive rights movement," said Nancy Northup, president of the center.
Application details are available at www.reproductiverights.org/ab_employment.html#columbiafellow.
The new chairman of the Citizens Union along with its research and education arm, the Citizens Union Foundation, is Proskauer Rose partner Peter J.W. Sherwin, elected last month by the nonpartisan agencies dedicated to promoting good government and political reform in the city and state of New York.
Mr. Sherwin joined the board of Citizens Union in 2003. At Proskauer, he is chairman of the firm's international arbitration group.
In addition, Mr. Sherman is a U.S. representative to the International Chamber of Commerce Commission on Arbitration and a member of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on the Judiciary.
Attorneys from the New York and Chicago offices of Baker & McKenzie volunteered service that helped launch the Women's Microfinance Initiative of Bethesda, Md., which provides impoverished women around the world with working capital to launch small businesses.
New York partners Marc M. Levey and Robert P. Lewis handled tax-related issues, while Chicago partner Creighton R. Meland Jr. drafted loan documents.
The organization's first initiative involved micro loans to women in the remote village of Buyobo, Uganda, whose enterprises include chicken farming, coffee bean production, road-side food stands, convenience shops and clothing.
Public Interest Projects reports on volunteer projects at the law firms, and the lawyers and public interest agencies involved. Please submit items by e-mail to tadcock@amlaw.com.
