Put the kibosh on fundie prison program: Court

[D. Scarlatti]

[U.S. District Judge Robert] Pratt said the Iowa Department of Corrections must close the program within 60 days, and $1.5 million in contract payments must be returned to state officials. However, those orders will be suspended while an appeal is pending, the judge said.

Judge says Christian prison program must end

The case, brought by the Washington-based advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has been widely viewed as a major challenge to President Bush's faith-based initiative, the White House's effort to deliver more government funding to religious groups that provide social services, particularly in prisons.

Judge Bars Tax-Funded Religious Jail Project

A few of the highlights of the 140-page opinion include the court's observations that Nixon-era felon Chuck Colson's faith-based rehabilitation program is so "pervasively sectarian" it even rejects the tenets of competing Christian sects, it repeatedly billed the state for such "non-sectarian" items as "Jesus is Lord" keychains, and afforded participants various perqs and special treatment free of charge, whereas Jewish and Native American religious observers were required to pay for their own ceremonial objects and requirements.

For example, a Jewish inmate has to pay for his kosher meals and a Native American inmate pays for his own rocks and wood for "sweat lodge" religious ceremonies. But participants in the fundamentalist Christian religious program are provided juice, bread, Christian songbooks, and other items free of charge, and also several other opportunities not available to other inmates.

One participant was given permission to listen to a streaming audio broadcast of a baseball game involving his "favorite team," and others were allowed to make numerous telephone calls beyond the regular allotment. The participants were also allowed Christian reading materials in excess of the ten-book limit imposed on the prison's general population.

Among the more insidious characteristics of the program is the manner in which the religious beliefs of non-evangelical Christian inmates are treated:

The Court found credible the testimony of witnesses who stated that non-religious persons were often characterized by InnerChange staff as "unsaved," "lost," "pagan," those "who served the flesh," "of Satan," "sinful," and "of darkness." ...

InnerChange makes clear that a non-Christian religious observance is not considered part of the InnerChange treatment program and may only be done at InnerChange’s discretion. The Court found credible [Native American inmate Benjamin] Burens’ testimony that, during one-on-one sessions with an InnerChange teacher, Burens was asked whether he was saved, whether he was a Christian, and whether he believed in Jesus. Burens was also asked "what was I doing going out there to the sweat lodge ceremony." Burens was told the sweat lodge ceremony was basically a form of witchcraft, against the Bible, sorcery, and worship of false idols. The InnerChange Field Guide in use during the time Burens was in the program stated: "As you are transformed into the image of Christ, you have more and more integrity."

Integrity, as defined by Colson and his minions, presumably includes billing the state for sectarian gifts, meals, magazine subscriptions, and a blanket copyright license for distributing evangelical hymns under the guise of "non-sectarian" accounting line items.

[Ari]

Just another example of christians being persecuted and clear evidence of the end times.

[D. Scarlatti]

Further to the question of "integrity," the court also offered this amusing and mildly sarcastic footnote by way of commenting on the two parties' expert witnesses on prison conditions:

Gordon Kampka was the Plaintiffs' expert on prison conditions and testified to what prison authorities would consider incentives or benefits for inmates. Kampka's credentials are stellar and, though Defendants attempted a crude impeachment based on a prior conviction, the Court found Kampka's conclusions about prison conditions credible and helpful. The Defendants' expert on prison conditions was Warden Mathes. The Court found Warden Mathes honest and appreciated his candor throughout the proceedings. Nonetheless, to the extent Mathes contested Kampka's findings, the Court must, respectfully, take into consideration Mathes' own personal involvement in the case as the Newton Facility Warden at the time InnerChange came to Iowa.

[Clutch Munny]

InnerChange already hit the headlines (and my course notes) a few years back when a Penn State study seemed to show that it was vastly more successful at preventing recidivism than secular programs. The story was picked up by the WSJ and lots of other media outlets, and the faith-based success story was touted in White House press releases.

Oops! Turns out that it was InnerChange graduates who had lower rates of re-offense. And to count as a graduate, inmates had to remain employed, drug-free, etc, for two years after their parole. Guess who wasn't allowed to only count their successes? Yes, that would be the secular programs. People who get bored or offended and drop out of the secular programs count as failures. But according to InnerChange, such people counted as never having been in the program. Adjusted to take this into account, InnerChange was not significantly different.

Hello, hilariously inept methodology.

[viscousmemories]

From the first article linked:

The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, praised the decision. His organization, based in Washington, D.C., had sued on behalf of some inmates and Iowa taxpayers, contending the program unconstitutionally represents a merger of state and religion.

"We are absolutely delighted that the court found significant constitutional defects in a government-funded prison program that involves religious proselytizing or religious evangelism," Lynn said Friday. "If the reasoning in this case is followed elsewhere, and I suspect that it will be, it will pose an enormous challenge to faith-based programs at the state and federal level in many kinds of institutions."

Yeah but he's a Christian, so whatever his organization claims to advocate we all know that what he's really after is to turn the American government into a theocracy. I know this because an atheist evangelist told me so.

Also, the Chuck Colson comic book was one of my favorites as a kid. Seriously.