God Can Go to Jail, Superintendent Says

The American Civil Liberties Union reports that the Rappahannock Regional Jail in Stafford, Virginia, has agreed to stop expunging religious material from letters to inmates. As I noted last month, the ACLU, along with several other groups that defend religious freedom, sent a letter to the jail's superintendent, Joseph Higgs, warning that such censorship violates the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The letter was prompted by complaints from an inmate's mother whose correspondence with her son was cut into "something resembling Swiss cheese" because of her frequent biblical references.

Censorship of letters to prisoners can be justified by security concerns, but none was apparent in this case, and Higgs has never publicly explained the security rationale for trying to keep God out of the jail cell. According to the Rutherford Institute,  "jail officials have variously cited prohibitions on 'Internet pages' and 'religious material sent from home' as reasons for the censorship." The ACLU says Higgs claimed "large amounts of material being printed from the Internet [put] an undue burden on jail staff and [created] security and safety risks." Under the jail's new policy, "prisoners will be allowed to receive material copied from the Internet as long as it can be neatly stored within the storage bunks in their cells." Furthermore, "Higgs assured the ACLU in his letter that biblical passages will not be censored from letters written to prisoners and that letters will not be censored merely because they contain religious material."

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which also signed the letter to Higgs, has a press release here.

Comments

[kevrob]

When I worked in bookstores, we frequently had family members of inmates coming in to buy books, even religious books, to be sent to their incarcerated loved ones. The prison systems we were dealing with required that the printed material be sent directly from the bookstore, without any enclosures.

I believe the fear was that stuff "sent from home" would have to be more thoroughly searched for contraband.

Kevin

[franz kafka]

Religion is made of swiss cheese, at best.

[toto]

I think this raises broader questions about the rights of prisoners.

If they have a right to practice their religion, shouldn't they have a right to have pornography, access to cable TV, record albums, right books, get married, vote, or any other of the many rights law-abiding citizens have?

I don't think they should have no rights, I just don't know where to draw the line at what rights prisoners are constitutionally entitled to and what rights may be denied to them.

[Paul]

Take it outside, god-boy!

[Nigel I.]

The jail has previously had a policy of banning mail sent to prisoners that includes any material printed from the internet. The policy was adopted to cut down on large amount of materials being printed from the internet which claims puts an undue burden on jail staff and creates security and safety risks. Under the new policy adopted by jail officials, prisoners will be allowed to receive material copied from the Internet as long as it can be neatly stored within the storage bunks in their cells. Biblical passages will not be censored from letters written to prisoners and that letters will not be censored merely because they contain religious material. Our nation's constitutional values hold that people should not be denied access to religious materials simply because they are in jail or prison. No government officials should ever be allowed to interfere with the right of all Americans to freely practice the religion of their choice, or no religion at all. With this, the issue is resolved without any us of instant payday loan. So I hope that it is clear.