WESTMORELAND COMMISSIONERS RELEASE STATEMENT CONCERNING YARMULKE-WEARING INMATE

Westmoreland County Commissioners released a statement concerning an inmate who was not allowed to be transported to a hearing because he refused to take off his yarmulke.  The Trib reports that the two-sentence statement said there were concerns of him using the religious cap to smuggle contraband into the prison.  Sara Rose, deputy legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, questioned the county’s legal justification for refusing to transport Eckman less than 3 miles to his hearing. She said federal law protects an inmate’s right to practice their religion and requires jails and prisons to demonstrate a compelling reason to prevent a person from wearing a yarmulke in jail or during transport to and from the facility.  Eckman is in jail on charges related to the stabbing of his mother in 2023.