Ban on Prison Religious Program Challenged

Prison Fellowship's attorneys and witnesses told the judge that the Iowa program, located at the prison about 35 miles from Des Moines, was strictly voluntary and open to inmates of all faiths. They noted that much of the money came from private sources and reported that state money paid only for secular aspects of the program.

Pratt ruled, however, that the overtly religious atmosphere is not "a secondary effect of the program -- it is the program." He noted that the cost of all telephone charges were billed to the state under "nonsectarian items," along with 82 percent of the local director's salary. So, too, were "Jesus is Lord" key chains.

Prison Fellowship, founded in 1976 by Watergate figure Charles Colson, runs six similar programs in Texas, Kansas, Minnesota and Arkansas, and expects to open one soon in Missouri. All are funded privately.

When Americans United filed suit, the programs in Kansas and Minnesota also took government money, but the prison group shifted them to private backing, Earley said, "just to reduce the litigation profile until things could be resolved."

Pratt's ruling is on hold pending appeal.

Among those supporting InnerChange is former attorney general John D. Ashcroft, who wrote shortly before this month's arguments before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis that high recidivism rates prove that programs such as InnerChange, sometimes called IFI, are needed.

"Neither Judge Pratt nor Americans United offers a better way to stop the revolving door of prisons. They simply want to shut IFI down," Ashcroft wrote in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

"Judge Pratt's opinion ties the hands of corrections officials who are trying to make our communities safer," Ashcroft wrote.

Anthony R. Picarello Jr., general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, argued the case on behalf of Prison Fellowship. He said that an affirmative ruling by the appellate panel or the Supreme Court -- particularly if the money must be repaid -- would deter faith-based organizations.

"We think Prison Fellowship did it right," Picarello said. "If at the end of the day the court agrees with them and not us, the way to resolve it is to make some clear rules about how to do it right, rather than banish and punish us."