Appeals court hears arguements of Texas inmate demanding kosher food

(JTA) — A federal appeals court heard oral arguments in the case of a Texas prison inmate who is demanding kosher food.

Attorneys for Max Moussazadeh, who is serving a 75-year sentence for a 1993 murder, made their case Oct. 1 before a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

After Moussazadeh filed a 2005 federal lawsuit complaining that the prison system did not provide kosher food, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice started a kosher food program at one of its prisons and transferred Moussazadeh, and the other prisoners requesting a kosher diet, there.
 
Moussazadeh was later transferred to a high-security prison which does not provide free kosher meals, though he can purchase them from the commissary.

Moussazadeh is also being represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization.

The court likely will rule on the case in several months.

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