Jeffrey E. Johnson Bruce Howard Shore, in No. 97-3581 v. Martin F. Horn Raymond J. Sobina, in No. 97-3582

OPINION OF THE COURT

ALDISERT, Circuit Judge.

This case once again presents the federal courts with the serious and difficult task of balancing an individual’s First Amendment right to free exercise of religion with the principle, derived from the concepts of separation of powers and federalism inherent in our constitutional order, that federal courts should afford substantial deference to the administration of state correctional institutions. Specifically, we are asked to decide whether two Jewish inmates detained in the Pennsylvania prison system have a constitutional right to hot kosher…