The following article appeared in today’s The Times (Munster, IN):
Four years and thousands of tax dollars later, the case of David Subil may finally be heard in federal court in Hammond in January.
Which wouldn’t be so odd except, if Subil wins, he stands to gain exactly one dollar.
He is a Jewish man who was charged with stealing more than $450,000 worth of meat through an interstate conspiracy based out of a local casino hotel. Although a federal crime, Subil was held in the Porter County Jail in Valparaiso for seven months in 2004 under an agreement between the county and the feds.
His religion is only of concern because he sued the jail, which he alleged refused to serve him kosher meals, made him work on the Jewish Sabbath and denied him use of a religious item known as tefillin.
It’s all moot now. Subil, of Miami, has been convicted and is now in a federal penal facility in Florida.
“So all Subil can get is money damages,” said U.S. District Court Judge Philip Simon in Hammond. “He is limited to nominal damages. This means that if he wins, all he’ll get is a dollar.”
Simon said the Porter County Sheriff’s Department did not violate Subil’s rights by not allowing the use of tefillin, leather boxes containing Scripture passages that have long leather straps that even Subil admitted could be used as a weapon.
However, Simon said that Subil can go ahead with his other claims.
The county had said it did not have the money to put out for special kosher meals, but Simon noted the federal government had agreed to pick up the tab. And he said there was no reason for the jail to force him to work on his Sabbath.
The trial is set for Jan. 15 in Hammond. If it goes forward, Subil will have to be brought up from Florida as a kind of snowbird in reverse.
We won’t know until the trial why Porter County officials did not choose to allow Subil his federally subsidized kosher meals or allow him to rest on the Sabbath. In the end, it would have saved a lot of time, money and effort.
It’s not a frivolous suit, mind you. Religious rights, when they do not endanger the prison population, are to be respected and that is cemented in well-tested federal law. But the outcome will not change anything and will benefit Subil minimally.
“It’s really much ado about nothing,” said Simon, noting that because Subil’s rights are not now being violated by Porter County, the court can take no action.
“It makes one wonder,” the judge said. “What’s the point?”
What indeed.
(NWI.com)
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13 Responses
The point is to set a precedent
The point is, maybe federal prisons and B.O.P will realize that they can be sued and which can result in larger settlements. Also, that if inmates voices can be heard, perhaps it will make them think twice before mistreating other jewish inmates.
…and there should be daily shiurim on the daf etc., (maybe mussar also), a fully stocked B”M, chassidishe shechita, a mikva, shachris at 9am. NO!!! It’s enough that someone in jail wears a yarmulke on his head. I previously posted a long time ago from a R”Y that he wouldn’t ven let a inmate do that, if it wr up to him.
#1sammy, if they throw you in the slammer soon, for reasons legit or otherwise, I’m sure you’ll quickly learn about dan lchaff zchut and pidyun shvuyim real quick!!
The fact that someone was convicted of a crime in secular courts means nothing to us . There was no gevuyas Edus and no psak beis din against him .
David Subil, 36, pleaded guilty to one charge of organized fraud related to an ongoing scheme where he placed orders for more than $271,0000 in fresh meat and shrimp from at least 10 Florida businesses and paid for them with fake cashiers checks.
ginas vradim,
we are in america, where religious rights are honored, even in jail. people have finished shas while sitting in jail.
to the judge who asked “what’s the point?”:
the point is not for the money
it’s to show that being in jail is the punishment – not loss of religious rights… he is suing because he was wronged. inmates should have a right to be religious if it doesnt harm anyone
Not knowing many details about this case or the Rubashkin case, can someone explain why it is such a mitzvah to save Rubashkin and not this and many other yidden sitting?
Justice now!
sammygol and ginas vradim, who are you to paskun that someone shouldn’t wear teffiln, eat kosher, and learn torah?! jews throughout the ages have given up their lives for these things that you so easily dismiss!!
and bacci40, what happened to being dan likav zichus?
Do you know the famous saying ??
if you dont have the time dont commit the crime & now my friend. if you are so scrupulous & are so worried about your religion, than how come you broke the law & yes our Torah does not allow to brake any laws & that includes any laws that the government established, or can it be that you found religion while you where in Prison as you had some time to think about it.
to all those with an overdose of ahavath chinam-people plead guilty even when they are innocent as many times it is easier to do so then fight for your rights
case in point.a certain chiloni jew was arrested in washington state for a crime he claims not to have committed.he was offered a deal,plead guilty and we will release u from prison.one problem he felt he was innocent.so he stayed behind bars 2 years to fight.the jury of 9 idiots found him guilty but by then he had served his time.a jury found simpson innocent and a majority jost voted in cham’s an einekel so dont give me this bs about our judicial system
putting innocent people behing bars doesnt make a chillul hashem,sorry.are you aware how many people have been cleared from death row because of dna?so before passing judgement do alot of research
as far as tefillin,being that we dont live in china russia or japan,everoone one has rights,even if you dont like him and that includes rubashkin who ha severy sign of witch hunt all over him.why else did they do a commando style raid to bring him in,and i want tefillin and kosher food for him.you dont?i doubt your jewish orgins as we are known to have three traits,one is rachmanim,if you sit from the comfort of your computer and spout your sinath chinam,you probably voted for obama,who btw,is more for religious rights than his republican predecessors,either way get a life and stop hating so much
i dont know this subil and i dont care but i do know innocent yidden who have sat as well as real baaley teshuvah who became frum in jail.they deserve tefillin even if you dont think so
#1 I agree. We should be concerned that many Federal and local prisons not only have a minyan of Jews, but also of “frum” Jews. Do these convicted felons think that as long as they keep Shabbos, kashrus, put on tefillin, study Torah and give tzedakah that G-d does not see them stealing, distributing drugs, etc.? Surely, if the police can uncover their operation, so can G-d. It reminds me of the Gemara where it states that the thief who steals at night is more cursed than the one who steals by day, because the one who steals by night, rather than by day, has a greater fear of being seen and reported by men, rather than G-d. If this thief really believed in G-d, they would worried more about G-d seeing their crimes rather than the police.
To me, these Jewish felons who want to follow Jewish rituals in priosn have already, by their crimes, made the point that they do not believe in G-d, either. If so, why are they bothering to put on tefillin or keep kosher. There only reason could be that they’ve made t’shuvah. Lets hope this is so.