Prisoners have no right to hot meals, appeal court says

[Servonaut]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3618607

Newsjock  (1000+ posts)       Tue Nov-25-08 10:46 PM
Original message
Prisoners have no right to hot meals, appeal court says
Source: San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco -- State prison rules say inmates are entitled to two hot meals a day - but it's up to prison officials to decide how hot is hot enough, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.

Observing that prisoners have no right to be served food at "the most aesthetically pleasing temperature," the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco overturned a judge's ruling that would have required Pelican Bay State Prison in Del Norte County to turn up the heat on meals to inmates in the security housing unit.

... Prison officials replied that their only obligation was to serve meals that were cooked and "not cold." But Superior Court Judge Philip Schafer said the regulation required "a temperature acceptable to most consumers" and told officials to come up with procedures to make sure food was reasonably hot when it reached the inmates.

That's beyond a judge's authority, the appeals court said Tuesday. The court said inmates have a right to "proper nourishment while in custody" but have no right to enforce the department's regulations.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/1...

A large bonfire, alot of back and forth.

  Double T  (1000+ posts)        Tue Nov-25-08 10:53 PM
Response to Original message
1. Poor friggin' babies want to be spoon fed TOO?
 Stale bread and warm water for them all! This kind of crap makes it into a courtroom...pathetic!

peace13  (1000+ posts)        Tue Nov-25-08 10:55 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. My Ruthug friend doesn't think the Red Cross should serve hot meals either.
 I am beginning to see a theme here. 

Double T  (1000+ posts)        Tue Nov-25-08 11:07 PM
Response to Reply #2
7. 'warm' is close enough to 'hot'.
 By the time I prepare a meal, when I finally get to eat it, it certainly isn't 'hot' and some times barely warm. If an individual doesn't support coddling prisoners, the inference is he/she is a rethug or rethug like?

jrockford (427 posts)      Tue Nov-25-08 11:11 PM
Response to Reply #7
10. It isn't "coddling" prisoners, but yeah your impassionate attitude
 toward human life and dignity makes you rethug like.

Fire_Medic_Dave  (1000+ posts)      Wed Nov-26-08 03:59 AM
Response to Reply #10
66. So not serving criminals three hot meals a day is stripping them of their dignity?
 Please tell me you are kidding.

David

jrockford (427 posts)      Wed Nov-26-08 04:28 AM
Response to Reply #66
68. No, but saying they deserve just bread and water is. Which is in what that was a response too. nt

zonkers (1000+ posts)     Wed Nov-26-08 11:11 AM
Response to Reply #7
100. You seem very cruel. Prisoners are people. But besides that, warm food induces both a 
 sense of well being and actual health (scientifically proven), which probably makes caring for inmates easier and cheaper. So at the risk of coddling, it probably makes economic sense to serve prisoners food that is hot enough. 

 

 

Double T  (1000+ posts)        Tue Nov-25-08 11:17 PM
Response to Reply #4
16. I'm a recent repeat offender of cell phone use while driving, failure to wear a seatbelt while......
 driving and a left rear brake light failure while driving. Should these heinous crimes land me in jail, 'warm' food will be OK with me; I'll be very thankful even if it isn't a few degrees 'hotter'. It is more than pathetic that issues such as this make it into a court of any kind. Stale bread with warm water to dunk it in, works for me.

Dr.Phool  (1000+ posts)        Tue Nov-25-08 11:31 PM
Response to Reply #16
22. What's pathetic is that it had to be taken to court in the first place.
 Even prisoners are entitled to a little basic dignity. Not to mention, health regulations that apply to prison food as much as restaurant food. It has to be served above a healthy temperature.

Fire_Medic_Dave  (1000+ posts)      Wed Nov-26-08 04:00 AM
Response to Reply #22
67. What are the temperature regulations for a bologna sandwich?

 

[LC EFA]

Far as I see it prisoners should be thankful they get the quality food they do.

You're not supposed to like prison. If you get there you should get one taste and figure out that it's so bad you aren't ever going back.

I suspect that at least some of the DUmmies clamoring for better prison conditions are formers inmates or live a lifestyle that they know may very well land them in there at a moments notice.
 

[Chris]

Far as I see it prisoners should be thankful they get the quality food they do.

You're not supposed to like prison. If you get there you should get one taste and figure out that it's so bad you aren't ever going back.

I suspect that at least some of the DUmmies clamoring for better prison conditions are formers inmates or live a lifestyle that they know may very well land them in there at a moments notice.

That, and they want to keep that important convict voting block on their side. 

[ReardenSteel]

I can't believe how callous they are being to Mother Earth! Can you imagine the energy wasted on all those hot meals? Very ungreen. (snort)

Well, they won the election and they don't allow dissent. What the Hell else are they going to argue about? The only worthwhile thing of that whole OP was that now I'm thinking of adding "(scientifically proven)" somewhere in all my future post. It's so devistating to anyone who would dare disagree. (scientifically proven)

[Duke Nukum]

What if it was someone like Ken Lay or Leona Helmsly? Would the prims feel the same?  I wonder...