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Offenders have the right to practice their faith behind bars. Cutting off their access to religious materials and programs hinders their ability to transform their lives. Take action to protect inmates’ religious freedom!
For more information on the religious freedoms of the incarcerated, visit the Religion Behind Bars key issue page.
Pray
Spread the Word
Hold the Government Accountable
Change the Law
Pray
- Pray that inmates will be granted unhindered religious freedom.
- Pray for prison officials to allow faith-based programming for life skills, drug treatment, parenting, anger management and reentry planning.
- Pray that religious reading materials will consistently be available to inmates.
- Pray that mentors will be permitted to stay in contact with prisoners after their release to help them with the challenges awaiting them.
- Ask God to transform lives through His grace.
Spread the Word
Talk with your friends and family about the need to protect religious freedom behind bars.
- Approximately 650,000 offenders reenter society each year; approximately two-thirds of those will be rearrested within three years. (From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry, The Urban Institute, 2001)
- Crime is a moral issue requiring a moral solution. (James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein, Crime and Human Nature, New York: Simon and Shuster, 1985)
- Research studies show that religious belief positively influences offender rehabilitation. (James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein, Crime and Human Nature, New York: Simon and Shuster, 1985)
- Religious freedom is highly vulnerable to abuse. Censoring prison chapel library materials threatens prisoners’ access to books that are foundational to their faith. Refusing to provide prison chaplains that reflect inmates’ religious convictions impedes their ability to grow in their convictions and strengthen their moral resolve. (The InnerChange Freedom Initiative, A Preliminary Evaluation of a Faith-Based Prison Program, 2003)
Hold the Government Accountable
Write a letter to your newspaper about what must change in our corrections system.
Dear Editor,
More than 2 million people are currently behind bars in the United States. Approximately 650,000 inmates will be released this year, and according to a recent 15-state study, two-thirds of them will be rearrested within three years. The prison system costs taxpayers $68 billion a year—an increase of 300 percent over the past two decades—and yet prisons are dangerously overcrowded and recidivism rates are high.
We can solve these problems of escalating incarceration costs and failed reentry policies, but first we have to recognize that crime is a moral issue and requires a moral solution. Research studies show that religious belief positively influences offender rehabilitation. Promoting rehabilitation through proven alternatives—such as faith-based programming for life skills, drug treatment, parenting, anger management and reentry planning—is imperative for improving lives and creating safer communities.
Unfortunately, many prison programs avoid any discussion of faith and morality and are reluctant to partner with faith-based groups despite the success these groups have had in changing inmates’ hearts and minds. Many jurisdictions have sought to remove religious materials from prison libraries and prevent mentors from contacting and interacting with released offenders. Such efforts will only ensure that costs continue to spiral out of control as the system fails to rehabilitate offenders.
If prisoners are to live healthy, productive, law-abiding lives when they return to their communities, we should see that they are equipped with moral standards to live by.
Change the Law
Write to your government representatives to ask them to support policies that ensure inmates’ religious freedom.
Dear Senator (or Representative),
More than 2 million people are currently behind bars in the United States. Approximately 650,000 inmates will be released this year, and according to a 15-state study, more than two-thirds of them will be rearrested within three years. The prison system costs taxpayers $68 billion a year—an increase of 300 percent over the past two decades—and yet prisons are dangerously overcrowded and recidivism rates are high.
We must solve these problems of escalating incarceration costs and failed reentry policies, but first we have to recognize that crime is a moral issue and requires a moral solution. Research studies show that religious belief positively influences offender rehabilitation. Promoting rehabilitation through proven alternatives—such as faith-based programming for life skills, drug treatment, parenting, anger management and reentry planning—is imperative for improving lives and creating safer communities.
I therefore urge you to ensure that faith-based programs are allowed to provide:
- Drug treatment during and after incarceration, including family-based treatment for incarcerated parents;
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- Education and job training in prison; and
- Mentoring programs for adults and juveniles leaving prison.
And, I urge you to pressure prisons and jails to enforce policies that guarantee inmates’ access to religious materials.
As Nelson Mandela observed, “The character of a nation can be judged not by how it treats its highest citizens, but by how it treats its lowest ones—prisoners.” Thank you for ensuring that inmates are guaranteed the right to religious freedom.
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