Sam Bankman-Fried living on bread and water because jail won't abide vegan diet, lawyer says

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Sam Bankman-Fried living on bread and water because jail won't abide vegan diet, lawyer says
nbcnews.com

The co-founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX pleaded not guilty to a seven count indictment charging him with wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.

An attorney for FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried said in federal court Tuesday his client has to subsist on bread, water and peanut butter because the jail he's in isn't accommodating his vegan diet.

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That's a very sensationalist way to phrase your point and makes you sound fairly biased in the matter.

In the law, religious belief is a protected class, but dietary choice is not. A reasonable debate could be had about if it should be protected. The prison system nor the court room is the right forum, because it needs to be decided by the legislature.

Veganism it's not a simple dietary choice. Depending on how long the person has been vegan, a sudden switch could make them very sick.

And let's not pretend that prisons don't regularly disregard inmates dietary restrictions, even the medically necessary ones. It's easy to laugh at this one because 'haha vegan' but it's still atrocious to ignore any dietary restriction, let alone such a common one.

Being celiac, or having a nut allergy is a dietary restriction. Voluntarily choosing not to eat animals or animal products is not a dietary restriction.

I agree, I would feed him pig entrails, by force even, maybe even make him slaughter the piglet or he can't eat anything at all.

I'm sure he could ease into a merely vegetarian or occasionally vegetarian diet. He has all the time in the world.

Veganism is not strictly a dietary choice. Look into ethical veganism. In the UK, Ethical Vegans are a legally protected class. I understand they are not legally protected in America - this does not require me to change my position at all. I made it clear that it's my opinion, and I presented how I would personally feel to be in his position and what I might consider just to have that ethical belief respected.

It's a lifestyle choice based on moral ramifications. I understand that you're not the legislative but it totally should be a part of the same protected class.

It is in most civilised nations.