ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society

According to the New York Times:

Behind the walls of federal prisons nationwide, chaplains have been quietly carrying out a systematic purge of religious books and materials that were once available to prisoners in chapel libraries. . . .

Prison chaplains, and groups that minister to prisoners, say that an administration that put stock in religion-based approaches to social problems has effectively blocked prisoners’ access to religious and spiritual materials — all in the name of preventing terrorism.

The story reports that chaplains were directed by the Bureau of Prisons to remove all materials not on a list of approved resources, permitting a maximum of 150 book titles and 150 multimedia resources for each of 20 religious categories. The DoJ says it relied on religious “experts” to compile the lists, but the identities of the experts -- and the list of pre-approved books -- have not been made public.  

Chaplains routinely reject any materials that incite violence or disparage, and donated materials already had to be approved by prison officials.

The Bureau stated that this effort, the “Standardized Chapel Library Project,” is a means of barring access to materials that would “discriminate, disparage, advocate violence or radicalize.”

Two inmates have filed suit in New York, claiming violation of their freedom of religion under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The lawsuit says:

This purge is an unnecessary, unconstitutional and unlawful restriction of the ability of federal inmates nationwide to practice and learn about their religion and has substantially burdened their ability to exercise their religion the lawsuit says.

The Associated Press reports:

The Muslim portion of the chapel library has been reduced to the Quran and two other titles after the removal of prayer books, prayer guides and the Hadith, the most important source for Muslim practice and faith after the Quran.