Wacky Vampire Lawsuits
The Weird & Wacky Lawsuits Edition 2
Thankfully Calgary, Alberta does not see cases like this (often). Our second segment of wacky lawsuits involves a darker side of life: Vampires. There are many lawsuits and court cases that involve lawyers and self represented people make a variety of claims. The court systems in both Canada and the United States have to sort out the legitimate lawsuits from those that are vexatious. When dismissing a vexatious lawsuit, the court wants to make sure that there is little chance of the legal fight going to the court of appeal. In this case the trial court was not successful. This matter actually went to the Utah State Court of Appeals.
Vampire Cuisine
Who did the suing: Robert Paul Rice
Who was sued: The Utah State Prison
The Wacky Lawsuit: Prisons Rules Should Accommodate Vampires
Robert Paul Rice took his religion very seriously. That said, he was in prison for 1 to 15 years for felony weapons possession, Burglary and theft. In his arguments at the Court of Appeal, Mr. Rice indicated that his religion was Druid. Specifically he stated that he was part of the Druid Order of Vampires. The prison records showed that he was Catholic.
Mr. Rice had two complaints:
The food selections provided by the prison violated his rights by not meeting his Vampire [religious] needs
According to Rice, he has specific food requirements as a Vampire. He is allowed to eat vegetables, fruits and grains. He is also allowed to drink milk. His religion, he claims, prohibits the eating of meat. The Utah State Prison only offered 5 types of meals but also accommodates for all medical nutritional requirements. The types of meals provided: soft diets for medical conditions, total liquid diets, a vegetarian diet, and both Kosher and Muslim diets. The prison serves 11,000 meals a day and cannot customize each prisoners meal.
The Prison violated his religious rights by not providing a Vampress
As a Vampire, Rice Claimed that he required conjugal visit whenever a “vampress” was available. A vampress was needed to that so he could follow the religious requirement of “the vampiric sacrament (drinking blood)”. The state prison system does not allow for any conjugal visits. Vampire or otherwise.
The Vampire Verdict:
The Court of Appeal ruled that nothing that was raised by Rice w did not merit any consideration by the court. Rice lost.
These fun posts are meant to be entertaining and are provided by the lawyers at Calgary based Kahane Law Office. No legal advice should be taken from these real lawsuits.