Written by Don Byrd
Inmates who practice the Wiccan faith in a California prison have sued over the lack of access to Wiccan chaplains. Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Protestant chaplains are on staff, they claim, but no Wiccan, despite the fact that more prisoners are of Wiccan than Jewish, Muslim or Catholic faith at the facility (the Central California Women’s Facility). The trial court dismissed their claims, noting that not all prisoners are entitled to the chaplain of their choice. Earlier this week, the 9th Circuit agreed on the religious exercise claims, but reversed the trial court’s ruling on the Establishment Clause claim.
Unlike Plaintiffs’ claims that the Policy deprives them of a “reasonable opportunity” to practice their religion and imposes a “substantial burden” on their religious exercise, their Establishment Clause claim asserts that the Policy constitutes an unconstitutional endorsement of one religion over another. Accepting Plaintiffs’ allegations as true, the prison administration has created staff chaplain positions for five conventional faiths, but fails to employ any neutral criteria in evaluating whether a growing membership in minority religions warrants a reallocation of resources used in accommodating inmates’ religious exercise needs…. [A] prison administration accommodating inmates’ rights under the First Amendment must do so without unduly preferring one religion over another.
The Court did caution that this decision by no means suggests the inmates will be successful with their suit, only that the complaint is sufficiently plausible that it may go forward.
