DVD!Nutrition Education Non-profit Files Suit to Secure Proper Nutrition for Inmates
Sally Fallon Morell
by Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation
Illinois inmates have requested a permanent injunction to halt the use of soy protein as a meat substitute in the Illinois prison system, claiming the diet violates the constitutional guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment.
The case is captioned Harris et al. v. Brown et al. and is pending before the Honorable Judge Harold Baker of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois. The complaint names as defendants the State of Illinois, two administrative agencies, a private corporation that has a contract with the State to provide medical treatment to inmates, and 32 individuals who work for the State and the private corporation.
The complaint is brought under the 8th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and claims that since 2004, the inmates have been forced to consume a prison diet that contains a high amount of soy in the diet. As a result of excess soy in the diet, the inmates are suffering from physical and medical symptoms such as stenosis, heart problems, arterial blockage, varicose veins, shortness of breath, fluctuation of weight, stalactites or hard lumps in the abdomen, fainting, thyroid problems, irritable bowel syndrome, fatigue, vomiting, pain after eating, passing out, severe constipation and/or diarrhea, and rashes. Two of the inmate plaintiffs have had pacemakers installed, one has had his thyroid removed, and another has suffered a heart attack. The complaint also alleges retaliation on behalf of the prison and private corporation individuals after they refused to provide a soy-free diet to the inmates in response to the inmates’ filing of grievances on the soy and other issues.
The complaint seeks an injunction putting a halt to the use of soy product as a meat substitute in the prison diet, and it seeks damages from the individual defendants for deprivation of the inmates’ civil rights. In addition, two inmates have filed motions for temporary restraining orders and for preliminary injunctions, seeking a halt to the retaliation they have been receiving in response to bringing the soy problem to the attention of prison authorities and medical officials.
The Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit nutrition information foundation that provides information on the dangers of modern soy products, is providing expert witnesses and financial support for the case. For further information, visit http://westonaprice.org/press/press-13jul09.html.
If you can offer assistance to our case, please contact: Kimberly Hartke, Publicist
(703) 860-2711, cell (703) 675-5557
kimberly@hartkeonline.com
Visit the Weston A. Price Foundation Press Room for more information, and the formal complaint.
Love your blog, by the way. What a great, centralized resource for all real food and local farm info.
4 Comments
My husband CAN NOT eat the soy burgers. It kills him with pain if he does.
im trying to join the class-action suit against .the IL-dept.of corr. because i was a inmate from 2005 to 2008. infact,i was damaged by the soy-bean products.i ve been hospitalized over 14 times since my release with gastrointestinal problems which was documented by doctors and the effects are ongoing.my sperm count has also been effected by the soy-bean products as well as extreme-weight loss. if u can help me it is best to call me at 815-824-6759
Try going to a third world county where your lucky if you even get to eat. If you don’t like the food then don’t go to prison. Try getting a real job instead of sucking more hard earned tax payer’s money through your frivolous lawsuits…
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