Jews in prison may find it easier to have their religious needs met if the House of Representatives agrees to a measure already adopted by the Senate.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), would create a “Religious Issues Oversight Board” in the Justice Department’s Bureau of Prisons that would rule on grievances from prisoners who felt their “legitimate religious needs” were not being met.
Currently, prisoners who are not satisfied with how prison officials handle their requests must take their cases to court.
Helms’ proposal, an amendment to the 1990 authorization bill for the Justice Department and other federal agencies, has the general approval of Jewish groups.
Mark Pelavin, Washington representative of the American Jewish Congress, said the idea of creating such a board is “worthwhile.” He said many of the religious complaints filed by prisoners “are not moving through the courts very quickly.”
Pelavin added that the liberal-leaning AJCongress is “slightly surprised” that Helms, an arch-conservative, sponsored the measure, “but we are going to try work with him.” AJCongress has often fought Helms’ initiatives in matters impinging on the separation of church and state.
FIVE FAITHS REPRESENTED
This initiative, too, raises a church-state concern for some Jewish groups: the composition of the oversight board. The amendment states that the board will have five members “each of whom may represent a different major religion of the United States.”
Such wording could exclude certain religions and violate the First Amendment clause that prohibits government recognition of some religions and not others.
A Helms aide stressed the word “may.” He added that it seemed reasonable to include a Jew, Mormon, Moslem, Protestant and Roman Catholic on the board, since a prisoner with a religious complaint is likely to be a member of one of those major faiths.
Agudath Israel of America considers it “offensive in principle” for religious decisions at prisons to be made by non-Jews, such as non-Jewish chaplains, said David Zwiebel, its director of governmental affairs.
The one full-time Jewish chaplain in the U.S. prison system, Rabbi Jacob Hoenig of New York’s Staten Island, was not available for comment.
According to Helms’ legislation, the oversight board would “have the power to order the religious need of the inmate met.”
The board members would meet at least once a month, and reach their decisions by majority vote.
Board members would serve six-year terms without compensation except for travel, with Congress appropriating $100,000 for the Bureau of Prisons to administer their activities.
In reaching its decisions, the board should “take into account the overall security and safety of the inmates, and the financial cost to the taxpayers” of the religious requests, the legislation states.
The Bureau of Prisons sets aside money each year to meet religious requests of prisoners, which would be tapped if the oversight board deemed it necessary.
The legislation does not state what religious requests would be considered excessive. The one specific limit on the board’s powers is that it could not release an inmate from prison either temporarily or permanently.
Two religious requests by Jewish prisoners that are now routinely approved are access to kosher food and permission to wear yarmulkes, said the Rev. Robert Schulze, assistant chaplain administrator at the Bureau of Prisons.
Similarly, headgear warn by other religious groups is also generally allowed, he added.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
