Buddhists are not the only religion that has trouble ministering to prisoners

from http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/02/ministry-sues-for-access-to-...


OKLAHOMA CITY (RNS) The Oklahoma Department of Corrections' refusal to allow a Christian ministry access to send Bibles, books about Jesus Christ and other religious materials to inmates has sparked a federal lawsuit.

Wingspread Christian Ministries, headquartered in Prairie Grove, Ark., and operated by Illinois-based Evangelists for Christ Inc., filed the lawsuit Wednesday (Feb. 11) in U.S. District Court in Muskogee.

Prison restrictions on prisoners' correspondence violate the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and Oklahoma's Religious Freedom Act, the 12-page lawsuit petition claims.

"Restricting Wingspread's freedom of speech and religion is not only harmful to our constitutional rights, it is also very harmful to those within prison walls in need of spiritual sustenance," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville, Va.-based civil liberties organization, which represents the plaintiffs.

Neville Massie, executive assistant to Oklahoma Corrections Director Justin Jones, said the department would not comment on pending litigation.

Wingspread sends similar religious materials to prisoners in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Texas but "has not encountered restrictions upon and impediments to its ministry similar to those encountered in Oklahoma," the lawsuit states.

According to the suit, Oklahoma prison regulations mandate that "all orders for publications will be made directly to the publisher of the material or to a legitimate bookstore."

The regulation does not allow a ministry to send Bibles or other religious materials; only a publisher, bookstore or book dealer may do so, according to the plaintiffs. Wingspread said it also has tried to send money orders worth $15 to $20 to indigent or mentally ill prisoners during the Christmas season, only to have them returned by prison officials. The ministry said it also was informed that while individuals could write letters to inmates, ministries could not.

"Because Wingspread's ministry involves personal communication with prisoners and building a personal relationship with the prisoner, correspondence through the mail is crucial to the pursuit and success of this ministry," plaintiffs' attorney Joseph Clark wrote in the petition.

By Bobby Ross Jr.

Copyright 2009 Religion News Service.All rights reserved.No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

Views: 18

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David E. Scates on March 13, 2009 at 7:18am
What's the problem? They can't just order Bibles and literature from the publishers to be sent, and visit or write as individuals?
Permalink Reply by Paul McIvor on March 13, 2009 at 11:57am
Be creative!

The 'books only from the publisher' rule is common. The regulations are usually pretty clear about what you can send and who it has to come from. It's tough if you've got an old copy of a book you really want to send and it's a tad dog-eared or marked up (or you just can't get a copy anywhere else). Once I thought it would be really uplifting for one inmate I know to get an autographed copy of a particular book (Hardcore Zen) but it wouldn't have made it through as any books with any writing in them are rejected.

If you can't get a book sent directly from a publisher then fake up a packing slip and and a bogus return address for a non-existent book store like "Bob's Discount Dharma Books" and send the book.

If the prison won't accept letters from an institutional ministry then delete all references to it in the addresses and send it from an individual.

As for the money order - see if there's a way to deposit into the inmates' petty cash or commissary account. Sure it's more work but then again, what aspect of prison outreach isn't work?

There are creative ways around a lot of rules.
Permalink Reply by Cindy Taren on March 14, 2009 at 5:20pm
I'm kind of bugged that some of you are deliberately missing the point. The principle of this article is that what amounts to human rights, and particularly prisoners' rights, are getting trampled upon by these bogus restrictions. So enough about "loopholes" please; this bigotry must be fought whole-heartedly, especially by those of us who really care about the positive reform of the prison system. In America, one who goes to prison in Oregon should have the same rights as one who goes to prison in Oklahoma.

RSS

Donate!

Events