A Connecticut death row inmate refuses to consume non-kosher products because of his orthodox Jewish faith. He has lost 50 pounds since beginning his hunger protest in August.
Steven Hayes awaits execution for the murder of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters Hayley and Michaela during the 2007 home invasion in Cheshire, Conn. The 51-year-old prisoner claims the Connecticut Department of Correction denied him certified kosher food and as a result has undergone "extreme weight loss," according to the New York Daily News.
Hayes originally filed a handwritten civil rights complaint against the director of religious services, the prison wardens and members of the Religious Review Committee in September, according to the New Haven Register. He alleges the prison's denial of a kosher diet is a violation of his Eighth Amendment right, prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment, because he's forced to eat non-kosher food to survive.
"This continuous denial of kosher diet is a clear violation of my First Amendment right to freely practice my religion of choice, Judaism," Hayes wrote in his complaint.
He amended the lawsuit last week to reflect his drastic weight loss since entering prison in July 2007. At the time, he weighed 170 pounds and now weighs below 120.
The court convicted Hayes and his partner Joshua Komisarjevsky of felony murder along with other charges. Hayes raped and strangled Hawke-Petit and Komisarjevsky sexually assaulted Michaela. They set the house on fire, and only the father, Dr. William Petit Jr., escaped with his life.
Hayes claims he converted to Judaism during a previous prison stint in the '90s, according to the New York Daily News. He has spent the past two years struggling to "choose between following God and starving or choosing sin to survive."
The death row inmate wants the issue addressed by a judge and asked for an injunction so the Department of Correction would have to provide pre-packaged kosher meals to all Jewish prisoners in Connecticut's prisons, according to the New Haven Register. Hayes refuses to eat kosher meals that are cooked in the same pots and pans as non-kosher foods.
He also seeks $15,000 in punitive and compensatory damages for "intentional infliction of pain, suffering and resulting weight loss from the deliberate denial of a kosher diet."
