State High Court Gets Prisoners’ Spicy Beef

The state Supreme Court is considering a petition filed on behalf of Latino inmates at the Orange County Jail charging that the lack of spicy or Mexican food in their diet is racially discriminatory.

The county counsel was asked Friday to prepare a response to the complaint and submit it to the court by next week. Deputy County Counsel Laurence M. Watson said the response would probably repeat the county’s previously stated position that it is not legally required to provide a specialized diet.

More than 200 inmates--many of them Latino--signed a petition last June requesting that the jail serve more Mexican food--or that it at least provide chili peppers or hot sauce to spice up its regular meals.

The inmates submitted magazine articles about the nutrition found in chili peppers, including a study that found the taste for spicy food to be hereditary. The inmates also submitted a list of menus from jails around the country that provide chili peppers or hot sauce.

The inmates’ petition has been repeatedly rejected at various levels and then appealed by its author, Thomas F. Maniscalco, a lawyer and inmate awaiting trial in a triple murder. After the petition was rejected by the county counsel, it was turned down by a Superior Court and the 4th District Court of Appeal.