Religion in United States prisons
Encyclopedia
Inmates incarcerated in the United States penal system
practice a variety of religion
s. Their basic constitutional right to worship has been reinforced by decades of court decisions and more recently by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
. However, several of these court rulings have also set limitations on these rights when prisoner demands are seen to impede prison safety and function.
: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Chaplains, volunteers and other representatives of these groups may organize religious services as often as daily in large prisons, while also providing pastoral care to inmates and staff.
, yoga or contemplative prayer. While these programs are sometimes secular they are also frequently sponsored by religious organizations and interfaith groups. Such programs have an established history. In the 19th century Quaker ideas, were co-opted by Pennsylvania prisons which had inmates meditate upon their crimes as a key component of rehabilitation. In the 1970s organizations such as the Prison-Ashram Project
and SYDA Foundation
began programs to offer meditation or yoga instruction to inmates. In subsequent years more religious groups have begun meditation programs, such as the Prison Dharma Network
in 1989. Modern meditation programs are thought to help inmates deal with the stress of confinement. One recent study has suggested that such programs help to reduce a host of undesirable and unhealthy behaviors, like drug use, violence and risk taking. Not all prisons allow contemplative programs, leading some to use religious freedom provisions as a way to gain access to the programs. For instance, court actions recognizing Zen Buddhism as an "acceptable religion" have secured meditation programs in New York prisons.
contribute to the growth of Islam in the country. According to the then Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Harley G. Lappin, not counting members of the Nation of Islam, there were 9,600 Muslim inmates in federal prisons in 2003. However, J. Michael Waller claims that roughly 80% of the prisoners who find faith while in prison convert to Islam and that these converts made up 17-20% (around 350,000) of the total (state and federal) prison population, in 2003.
indicates that "a pagan revival among the white prison population, including the conversion of whole prison gangs to the ancestral religion.". In 2001 there were prison groups associated with Wotansvolk
in all states of the nation
supporting more than 5000 prisoners. The women's group Sigrdrifa, which has chapters in the United States and Canada, also runs a "Odinism in Prison" project, while the Odinic Rite
and the Ásatrú Alliance
have prisoner outreach programs as well.
The ability of Neopagans to practice their religion in U.S. prisons has been shaped by the outcome of two significant court cases. In 1985, Virginia prisoner Herbert Daniel Dettmer sued Robert Landon, the Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections, in federal court to get access to objects he claimed were necessary for his Wicca
n religious practice. The district court for the Eastern District of Virginia decided in Dettmer's favor, although on appeal, in Dettmer v. Landon
the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
ruled that while Wicca was a religion, it was not a violation of the First Amendment to keep a religious practitioner from accessing ritual objects. In 2005 Cutter v. Wilkinson
came down on the side of at least three Neopagan prison inmates protesting the denial of access to ceremonial items and opportunities for group worship. Yet in their decision the court reinforced the notion that "should inmate requests for religious accommodations become excessive, impose unjustified burdens on other institutionalized persons, or jeopardize an institution’s effective functioning, the facility would be free to resist the imposition."
Prisons in the United States
Incarceration in the United States is one of the main forms of punishment and/or rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. At year-end 2009 it was 743 adults incarcerated per 100,000...
practice a variety of religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
s. Their basic constitutional right to worship has been reinforced by decades of court decisions and more recently by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act , , codified as et seq., is a United States federal law that prohibits the imposition of burdens on the ability of prisoners to worship as they please, as well as giving churches and other religious institutions a way to avoid burdensome...
. However, several of these court rulings have also set limitations on these rights when prisoner demands are seen to impede prison safety and function.
Organizations and programs
While inmates often worship as individuals they also frequently do so within the structure provided by the programs of religious groups and denominations tending to the incarcerated. Nearly all correctional facilities provide support for at least the Abrahamic religionsAbrahamic religions
Abrahamic religions are the monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him...
: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Chaplains, volunteers and other representatives of these groups may organize religious services as often as daily in large prisons, while also providing pastoral care to inmates and staff.
Contemplative programs
Some U.S. prisons offer contemplative programs for inmates and staff, which may include meditationMeditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
, yoga or contemplative prayer. While these programs are sometimes secular they are also frequently sponsored by religious organizations and interfaith groups. Such programs have an established history. In the 19th century Quaker ideas, were co-opted by Pennsylvania prisons which had inmates meditate upon their crimes as a key component of rehabilitation. In the 1970s organizations such as the Prison-Ashram Project
Prison-Ashram Project
"The focus of the Prison-Ashram Project is to help prisoners and prison staff throughout the world turn inward and use their harsh environments to develop wisdom and compassion."...
and SYDA Foundation
Siddha Yoga
Siddha Yoga is a spiritual path based on the Hindu spiritual traditions of Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism. The Siddha Yoga path was founded by Swami Muktananda Paramahamsa . The present spiritual head of the Siddha Yoga path is Gurumayi Chidvilasananda...
began programs to offer meditation or yoga instruction to inmates. In subsequent years more religious groups have begun meditation programs, such as the Prison Dharma Network
Prison Dharma Network
The Prison Dharma Network is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 with the mission of supporting prisoners and prison volunteers in transformation through meditation and contemplative spirituality in prisons...
in 1989. Modern meditation programs are thought to help inmates deal with the stress of confinement. One recent study has suggested that such programs help to reduce a host of undesirable and unhealthy behaviors, like drug use, violence and risk taking. Not all prisons allow contemplative programs, leading some to use religious freedom provisions as a way to gain access to the programs. For instance, court actions recognizing Zen Buddhism as an "acceptable religion" have secured meditation programs in New York prisons.
Islam
In addition to immigration, the state, federal and local prisons of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
contribute to the growth of Islam in the country. According to the then Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Harley G. Lappin, not counting members of the Nation of Islam, there were 9,600 Muslim inmates in federal prisons in 2003. However, J. Michael Waller claims that roughly 80% of the prisoners who find faith while in prison convert to Islam and that these converts made up 17-20% (around 350,000) of the total (state and federal) prison population, in 2003.
Neopaganism
There are a variety of Neopagan practitioners in the prison population many of whom are served by a variety of prison outreach programs. Mattias GardellMattias Gardell
Hans Bertil Mattias Gardell is a Swedish scholar of comparative religion. He is the current holder of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University, Sweden....
indicates that "a pagan revival among the white prison population, including the conversion of whole prison gangs to the ancestral religion.". In 2001 there were prison groups associated with Wotansvolk
Wotanism
Wotanism is the name of an American Heathen religion or socio-political current based on Germanic paganism and the doctrines of David Lane. Wotan is the German name for the Germanic god known in Norse as Odin...
in all states of the nation
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
supporting more than 5000 prisoners. The women's group Sigrdrifa, which has chapters in the United States and Canada, also runs a "Odinism in Prison" project, while the Odinic Rite
Odinic Rite
The Odinic Rite is a religious organization, practicing a form of Northern Indo European religion termed Odinism after the chief god of Norse mythology, Odin...
and the Ásatrú Alliance
Ásatrú Alliance
The Asatru Alliance is a US Ásatrú group, succeeding Stephen McNallen's Asatru Free Assembly in 1987, founded by Michael J. Murray of Arizona, who is a former vice-president of Else Christensen's Odinist Fellowship. The AFA seceded into two groups, the other one being The Troth...
have prisoner outreach programs as well.
The ability of Neopagans to practice their religion in U.S. prisons has been shaped by the outcome of two significant court cases. In 1985, Virginia prisoner Herbert Daniel Dettmer sued Robert Landon, the Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections, in federal court to get access to objects he claimed were necessary for his Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
n religious practice. The district court for the Eastern District of Virginia decided in Dettmer's favor, although on appeal, in Dettmer v. Landon
Dettmer v. Landon
Dettmer v. Landon, 799 F.2d 929 , is a court case in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that although Wicca was a religion, it was not a violation of the First Amendment to deny a prisoner access to ritual objects.-Facts:The plaintiff, Herbert Daniel Dettmer, was a...
the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:*District of Maryland*Eastern District of North Carolina...
ruled that while Wicca was a religion, it was not a violation of the First Amendment to keep a religious practitioner from accessing ritual objects. In 2005 Cutter v. Wilkinson
Cutter v. Wilkinson
Cutter v. Wilkinson, 544 U.S. 709 , is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court on May 31, 2005, which holds that under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act , prisoners in facilities that accept federal funds cannot be denied accommodations necessary to engage in...
came down on the side of at least three Neopagan prison inmates protesting the denial of access to ceremonial items and opportunities for group worship. Yet in their decision the court reinforced the notion that "should inmate requests for religious accommodations become excessive, impose unjustified burdens on other institutionalized persons, or jeopardize an institution’s effective functioning, the facility would be free to resist the imposition."
Relevant court cases
- 1964 - Cooper v. PateCooper v. PateCooper v. Pate, 378 U.S. 546 , was a U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court ruled for the first time that state prison inmates have the standing to sue in federal court to address their grievances under the Civil Rights Act of 1871. This case followed Jones v...
- 1972 - Cruz v. BetoCruz v. BetoCruz v. Beto, 405 U.S. 319 is a U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court upheld a Free Exercise claim on the basis of the allegations that the state of Texas had discriminated against a Buddhist prisoner by "denying him a reasonable opportunity to pursue his Buddhist faith comparable to that...
- 1986 - Dettmer v. LandonDettmer v. LandonDettmer v. Landon, 799 F.2d 929 , is a court case in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that although Wicca was a religion, it was not a violation of the First Amendment to deny a prisoner access to ritual objects.-Facts:The plaintiff, Herbert Daniel Dettmer, was a...
- 1987 - Turner v. SafleyTurner v. SafleyTurner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 , was a U.S. Supreme Court decision involving the constitutionality of two prison regulations. Citing the reduced liberty and greater security needs of the prison context, the Court declined to use the strict scrutiny standard of review...
- 1987 - O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz
- 1997 - City of Boerne v. FloresCity of Boerne v. FloresCity of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 , was a Supreme Court case concerning the scope of Congress's enforcement power under the fifth section of the Fourteenth Amendment...
- 2005 - Cutter v. WilkinsonCutter v. WilkinsonCutter v. Wilkinson, 544 U.S. 709 , is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court on May 31, 2005, which holds that under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act , prisoners in facilities that accept federal funds cannot be denied accommodations necessary to engage in...
See also
- Religious Freedom Restoration ActReligious Freedom Restoration ActThe Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 , codified at through , is a 1993 United States federal law aimed at preventing laws that substantially burden a person's free exercise of their religion. The bill was introduced by Howard McKeon of California and...
- Religion in the United StatesReligion in the United StatesReligion in the United States is characterized by both a wide diversity in religious beliefs and practices, and by a high adherence level. According to recent surveys, 83 percent of Americans claim to belong to a religious denomination, 40 percent claim to attend services nearly every week or...
- Prisons in the United StatesPrisons in the United StatesIncarceration in the United States is one of the main forms of punishment and/or rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. At year-end 2009 it was 743 adults incarcerated per 100,000...
- Prison Fellowship InternationalPrison Fellowship InternationalPrison Fellowship International is an international non-governmental organisation of national Prison Fellowship organisations from 117 countries.-Primary Mission:...