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Michigan Department of Corrections Policy Directive 5 (see footnote page) allows prisoners to exercise their religious beliefs and practices within the constraints necessary for the order and security of the facility.
Please note, the links that are associated with the following religious beliefs may not be the best on the Internet. For each religious belief, picked the link believed to have good information about that religion.
The Department recognizes the following religious beliefs: Al-Islam (Muslim); Baha'i; Buddhism; The Church of Christ, Scientist; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons); Church of Scientology; Hare Krishna; Institute of Divine Metaphysical Research; Jehovah's Witnesses; Judaism; Moorish Science Temple of America; Nation of Islam; Native American; Protestant-Christianity (e.g., Lutheran, Baptist, etc); Roman Catholic; and, Seventh Day Adventist. These groups are allowed to meet on a regular basis and to possess specific religious personal prisoner property.6 (see footnote page)
The Department also recognizes Asatru/Odinism, Hinduism and Wicca. However, these recognized religious groups are limited to religious prisoner personal property alone. 7(see footnote page)
There is a Chaplaincy Advisory Council, comprised of representatives of various faiths and denominations, that serve in an advisory capacity to the Department regarding religious policy and programming.
Not all of the above recognized religious groups are available at each prison, or within different levels of confinement at the same prison. What religious programming is available at which prison and the levels within that prison depends on inmate needs, tempered by what the warden and his/her administration permit to exist. E.g., there has to be at least five (5) prisoners interested in a particular religious belief. Religious programming also depends on available space and staffing resources within the facility.
All prison facilities have a Chaplain or a staff member acting as the facility Chaplain. She/he is responsible to coordinate all religious programming at that facility. Chaplains often enlist outside religious volunteers to come into the prison to lead religious worship and study services. When an outside volunteer is not available, prisoners are allowed to lead those religious services as approved by the facility Chaplain.
Facility Chaplains also provide some religious support services. They coordinate inmate marriages, review and approve incoming religious materials, pass out donated Christmas cards for prisoners to send to love ones on the streets, applications for the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree Project to send Christmas gifts to children of prisoners, etc. Chaplains are available to meet individually with a prisoner, especially when that prisoner is going through a difficult time in prison. Chaplains also make rounds and provide religious material to prisoners in segregation who are not allowed to attend religious worship or study services in person.
Some prisons facilities, such as the Marquette Branch Prison in Marquette, and the Gus Harrison Correctional Facility in Adrian, Michigan, actually have chapels where religious programming is held. The majority of correctional facilities hold religious programming activities in classrooms in the Education Building. From time to time, an outside religious concert may be held in prison gymnasiums or auditoriums.
All prisoners have access to members of the clergy, including clergy for a religious group not recognized by the Department. Clergy is defined as a leader of a religious organization or entity such as a church, mosque or synagogue, or a person who has been granted clergy status by a recognized religion. Almost anyone within a religion and without a criminal record can become an outside religious volunteer (e.g., to lead worship/study services on a rotating basis, provide one-on-one spiritual guidance during a prison visit, etc.).
Religious programming is very important in prison. It can be very instrumental in helping prisoners to find a better way of living, dealing with others, and to understand various aspects of life. Just as religion can strengthen the lives of citizens, help to mold character and to provide some sense of direction, prisoners can reap similar benefits sown by religious programming in prison.
Many prisoners find God or a spiritual way of life while in prison. However, it is difficult for them to transplant their religious way of life when released from prison to the streets. A hurdle in which some Florida prisoners no longer have to experience. 8 (see footnote page)
December 2003 Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Corrections Secretary James Crosby transformed the men's Lawtey Correctional Facility in Lawtey, Florida into a faith-based prison. April 2004 they transformed a female prison at Hillsborough Correctional Institution, near Tampa, Florida, into a faith-based facility. A key feature within these facilities is a mentoring system that pairs inmates with people on the outside who can help them get over difficult times once on the streets. Bush and Crosby hope that their faith-based prison initiative, including their mentoring system, will help to reduce prison recividism (i.e., the number of prisoners who re-offend upon release and who are then returned to prison).
If your church, mosque or synagogue does not have an active prison religious ministry in effect, or is not supporting one, it may behoove you to encourage your religious leaders to create or become involved with one. God provides us with the tools and abilities to not only help ourselves but also to help others. While God may be pleased with people on the streets doing well for themselves individually, He would be more pleased to see those on the streets helping the least of His brethren and sisters confined in prison. Matthew 25:36.
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