Food Quality in Oakland County Jail

In May and June 2022 the ACLU of Michigan received reports from Muslims housed in Oakland County Jail that jail officials were not providing adequate accommodations to Muslims who fasted during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. After investigating further through Freedom of Information Act requests, we found that the jail was not providing enough food to Muslims fasting during Ramadan; moreover, much of the food they did provide was spoiled. In addition, we found broader issues involving delays in approving religious accommodations, penalties for seeking medical exemptions to religious diets, and potential disparities in caloric content across religious diets. In October 2022 we worked with the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to send a letter to the Oakland County Jail explaining the constitutional issues posed by the jail’s failure to provide prompt and proper accommodations to Muslims. After a series of conversations, the Oakland County Jail changed its practices by improving the food offered during Ramadan, adding more flexibility to their Ramadan program to account for individuals who may need to temporarily abstain from fasting for medical reasons, and streamlining the process of reviewing and approving religious accommodations requests more generally. In addition, the jail agreed to allow the ACLU to monitor its Ramadan program in 2023 by providing us with a weekly disclosure of complaints related to food quality and quantity. A review of those complaints showed a noticeable improvement in Ramadan accommodations. (ACLU Attorneys Ramis Wadood, Phil Mayor, and Dan Korobkin; co-counsel Amy Doukoure and Nour Ali of CAIR Michigan.)