Balkinization: DOJ Comes to Its Senses on Faith-Based Prison Program

DOJ Comes to Its Senses on Faith-Based Prison Program

Marty Lederman

Several months ago, I argued here that the Department of Justice's proposed "residential multi-faith restorative justice program" entitled Life Connections was "manifestly unconstitutional in several respects." I wondered how the Office of Legal Counsel could possibly have signed off on this program.

Well, it appears that someone -- probably in OLC -- has thankfully had some sober second thoughts. On Thursday, DOJ cancelled the program "in its entirety."

[NOTE: This blatantly unconstitutional federal program did have the virtue of raising one very interesting and important constitutional question: Whether the state may ever attempt to promote religious faith or transformation, even (or especially) as a means of advancing secular ends (e.g., rehabilitation, cessation of alcohol dependence, etc.) that the state suspects to be correlated with faith.

I discussed that question with Rick Garnett and Doug Laycock here -- with links to additional thoughts from Steve Shiffrin and Rob Vischer.]

Posted 8:45 AM by Marty Lederman [link]

Comments:

I do not know anything about proposed faith-based prisons. I do know from personal experience that someone close to me, a Catholic, was required as a term of probation to avoid incarceration to go to an alcohol and drug rehab facility run by the Salvation Army that required all residents to attend specifically Salvation Army church services.

As it happened, he was not a serious enough Catholic to have any religious objections. But I found it very disturbing that he was not given any alternative -- Catholic, non-sectarian or secular. His options were going to a Salvation Army facility that required sectarian services or going to jail.

Surely this is coercion of religious practice and should be unconstitutional.

# posted by

Essayist-Laywer : 10:16 PM

P.S.: Meaning that I agree with enlightend person's comment posted previously. The skag he writes about is free to continue his predations because he fooled the judge into thinking that a faith-based program would keep him from committing more crimes. The judge should have just done the job the taxpayers pay him to do and locked him up for the maximum term. Surely this is a violation of a Constitutional duty on the part of the judge to protect the innocent public.

# posted by

nk : 4:00 AM

Rehabilitation is nonsense. If they were not habilitated when they were free, with all the rights and opportunities available to them in this great country, they will not be rehabilited as prisoners. The only achievable goal of the criminal justice system is incapacitation. Preventing them from commiting further crimes by imprisonment or death.

Any rehabilitation program, whether faith-based, socio-babble based or psycho-babble based, is a waste of the taxpayers' money.

# posted by

nk : 4:24 AM

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

# posted by

nk : 11:21 PM