Jail Censors Letter From Mom to Inmate Because Language is “Too Religious”

Jul 9, 2009

Jail Censors Letter From Mom to Inmate Because Language is “Too Religious”

Civil rights groups sent a letter today to the Rappahannock Regional Jail decrying the censorship of letters a Christian mother sent her imprisoned son. The letters were stamped for censorship with the words “Religious Material from Home.” On at least one occasion, all that was left of a 3-page letter was the salutation, first paragraph, and “Love, Mom.”

“The citizens of Rappahannock County should be alarmed that their government has decided to join North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Iran in treating the Bible as dangerous contraband,” said Eric Rassbach, National Litigation Director at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which signed the letter.

Prison authorities can legitimately censor writings that affect prison security, but the courts have ruled that inmates may have access to religious materials.

“Although the Bible says, ‘the truth shall set you free,’ prison authorities shouldn't treat the Bible as a security risk,” added Rassbach. “In censoring this mother's letters, the prison violated the First Amendment rights of both the prisoner and his mother.”

The censorship also violated federal civil rights laws, in particular the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) of 2000. Section 3 of the Act provides that no government may arbitrarily prohibit a prisoner from engaging in religious worship or communication.

For more information or to arrange an interview with one of the attorneys email Kristina Arriaga, Communications Director, at karriaga@becketfund.org, call 703.582.8962 or contact Montserrat Alvarado at malvarado@becketfund.org.

Based in Washington, D.C., The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a nonpartisan, interfaith, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions.

Becket Fund attorneys have become the nation’s leading experts on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which codifies constitutional principles derived from the First and Fourteenth Amendments and enjoys broad bipartisan support. In addition to conducting extensive litigation under the Act, they have written two law review articles on it, and they maintain a website dedicated to the Act, www.rluipa.org.

Click here for a copy of the letter to Rappahannock Regional Jail.

 Click here to watch an interview with Eric Rassbach on this case.

 

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