Death Row Inmate on Food Strike

Connecticut death row inmate Steven Hayes says he is refusing to eat prison food that he believes is not kosher.

Hayes, one of two men sentenced to die for the July 2007 killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters in Cheshire, sued the Department of Correction in August, alleging it would not serve him a kosher diet. He says the system is forcing him to "starve or go against God."

In a hand-written amended complaint made public Wednesday, Hayes says he hasn't eaten any non-kosher food since Aug. 24, and now weighs less than 120 pounds. State prison documents show the 5-foot-7 Hayes weighed 170 pounds in 2007.

The department does offer kosher food, but Hayes contends it isn't kosher because of cross-contamination in the prison's kitchens.