California
FFRF fought to protect the First Amendment rights of prisoners at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJD) in California.
A concerned spouse of an inmate at the facility reported that RJD was allowing a Christian prison ministry to forcibly segregate inmates based on whether the inmates adhered to the ministry’s approved brand of Christianity. The head of the Christian Prison Fellowship program, a pastor, was granted the authority to take over one of RJD’s housing pod units. Reportedly, in or around early July 2024, the pastor submitted paperwork to administrators to remove all non-Christian inmates from that pod. The warden and RJD’s administration appeared to allow the head of the program to forcibly remove all non-Christian inmates from the pod. The complainant further reported that many inmates of different religious beliefs and backgrounds who resided in the pod were “vehemently opposed to the takeover,” and “submitted signed petitions stating their protected constitutional rights” to the warden.
Furthermore, the pastor received a copy of the signed petitions and met with specific inmates who signed it. He informed these inmates that they were “undesirable” and were not “children of God” for opposing the Fellowship’s takeover of the unit. The pastor also pressured many of the LGBTQ-plus inmates residing in the pod to move out because the pastor and the prison fellowship did not fit the criteria of a “true Christian.” Due to the takeover of the pod, tensions at the facility have risen, heightening the threat of violence breaking out among inmates being overtly segregated against, and publicly ostracized based on religion.
“It is blatantly unconstitutional for RJD to segregate inmates along religious lines,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Director Ron Broomfield. “RJD’s warden and administration are allowing [the pastor] to force inmates currently housed in pod E25-C to leave that housing unit unless they agree to submit to the pastor’s and the Prison Fellowship’s particular Christian doctrine.”
Broomfield wrote back to address the complaint. “RJD management staff reviewed the concerns mentioned, specifically related to the Prison Fellowship Program on their Facility E,” he wrote. “Management met with stakeholders from the Prison Fellowship Program to provide the expectation that the incarcerated population will be afforded the opportunity to practice their respective religions on Facility E and will not be housed based on their religious affiliation.”
