Oklahoma
The Oregon Department of Corrections agreed to keep the Snake River Correctional Institute Veterans Association meetings secular, thanks to FFRF’s advice that it must adhere to the Constitution.
An inmate reported that before every Snake River Correctional Institute Veterans Association meeting, a chaplain delivered a prayer to a captive audience of inmate veterans. FFRF learned that the Incarcerated Veterans Association (IVA) is a registered nonprofit that was established by the overseeing correctional counselor for the institute’s veteran’s unit. The association had continued to be supervised and aided by the institute’s correctional officers and counselors, while also promoting religion and explicitly affiliating itself with Christianity.
“While the institution may permissibly accommodate the free exercise rights of its inmates by providing opportunities for religious worship, the institute and its employees may not organize, promote or coerce inmates to participate in religious events and activities,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote.
Shanon Vincent, a representative of the Oregon Department of Justice, wrote to FFRF after receiving the letter. “ODOC is sensitive to the concerns raised and thanks you for the opportunity to address them,” Vincent wrote. “This will confirm that after looking into the concerns that you raised about the prayers, ODOC has elected to end the practice of permitting SRCI’s chaplain to lead short religious prayers before the IVA meetings.”
