On The Front Lines
The Rutherford Institute Sues Oklahoma Dept. of Corrections Over Its Refusal to Allow Bibles & Religious Materials to be Sent to Prisoners
MUSKOGEE, OK--Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal district court against the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for its refusal to allow a Christian prison outreach ministry to send Bibles and other religious materials to prisoners. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, argues that restrictions imposed by the Dept. of Corrections upon Wingspread Prison Ministries' correspondence with prisoners violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Oklahoma's Religious Freedom Act.
"Restricting Wingspread's freedom of speech and religion is not only harmful to our constitutional rights," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, "it is also very harmful to those within prison walls in need of spiritual sustenance."
A copy of the complaint is available here.
Founded in 1986, Wingspread Prison Ministries is a Christian ministry that reaches out to individuals incarcerated in prisons, penitentiaries, and correctional institutions throughout the United States. The ministry relies upon personal communications with prisoners in order to assure them that God and people outside their penal institutions care about them and want to assist them in changing their lives. Thus, as part of its outreach efforts, Wingspread mails Bibles, books about Jesus Christ and Christianity, newsletters on religious topics, teaching audiotapes, and other religious materials to prisoners who want to learn more about Christianity.
Wingspread volunteers correspond with prisoners about their own life stories in the hopes that by doing so, they can help the prisoners understand the Bible's relevance to their own lives. Wingspread also provides prisoners who are indigent or mentally ill with money orders during the Christmas season, usually in small amounts between $15 and $20, which can be deposited into trust funds for the inmates and used to obtain small items to make their lives more comfortable. This giving is an integral part of Wingspread's ministry and is a tangible expression of concern for the well-being and lives of prisoners.
However, in March 2008, officials with the Oklahoma State Penitentiary informed Wingspread that it was prohibited from sending Bibles or religious books to prisoners in accordance with a policy allowing prisoners to receive books only from a publisher, book store, or book dealer. Wingspread was also allegedly informed that while individuals could write letters to inmates, ministries could not do so. Although Wingspread sends Bibles, other religious materials and books, and money orders to prisoners in other states, it has only encountered such restrictions in Oklahoma.
Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute subsequently contacted the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, urging them to lift the restrictions, which are in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"), as well as being contrary to existing regulations of the Department of Corrections. No response was forthcoming. In filing suit in U.S. District Court, Institute attorneys argue that the Oklahoma Department of Corrections has no legitimate, rational governmental interest for restricting Wingspread's right to freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion or for discriminating against them based on the religious nature of their correspondence.
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