The Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud has agreed to discontinue providing extra gifts to prisoners who attend holiday Christian services.
"Encouraging inmates to attend a church service is constitutionally impermissible because it coerces inmates to participate in a religious exercise, and sends the message that MCF-St. Cloud endorses Christianity over all other faiths and over nonreligion," wrote Staff Attorney Sam Grover on Feb. 12.
Warden Collin Gau responded Feb. 23. "We had no intention of sending a message that MCF-St. Cloud endorses Christianity over other religion, and to avoid that effective immediately, we will discontinue providing any gifts to offenders as a part of attending any religious programming at MCF-St. Cloud."