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Sheriff’s attorney to seek advisory opinion from the Virginia Attorney General
Hampton , VA – The ACLU of Virginia has received a letter from an attorney representing the City of Hampton Sheriff stating that the local jail will stop paying Southeastern Correctional Ministry to provide exclusively Christian services for inmates.
The ACLU had requested that the payments cease after learning that the Sheriff had paid a total of $20,280 in 2004 and 2005 to the ministry specifically for the purpose of bringing the Christian faith to inmates in the Hampton City Jail. No other religious organization received payments for services from the Hampton Sheriff.
“We do not oppose paid chaplains who minister to inmates of all faiths or to volunteers who offer sectarian religious services within the jail,” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis, “but we do object to government funds being used to convert inmates to a particular faith.”
“Jails and prisons must accommodate the religious needs of inmates and should see to it that religious services are provided for them,” added Willis, “but they can’t discriminate on the basis of religion by paying to bring only one religion to inmates.”
In a letter to the ACLU, attorney Jeffrey L. Nuckolls stopped short of saying that the suspension of payment to Southeastern Correction Ministry would be permanent. Instead, he stated that he would be seeking an opinion from the Virginia Attorney General on the legality of the payments to sectarian religious groups. Nuckolls wrote that “further determinations” regarding the payments would be made after reviewing the Attorney General’s opinion.
The ACLU supports the right of religious volunteers to enter jails and provide sectarian services to inmates, so long as they are not paid by the government, the inmates are not forced to participate, and all faiths are given the same access to the prisons.
After learning that jails in Hampton, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach had paid for exclusively Christian religious services, the ACLU in early April asked for guarantees that the payments would cease. The Portsmouth Sheriff responded that his predecessor had made such payments but that he had no intention of continuing the practice. Virginia Beach has not responded.
A copy of the Nuckolls’ letter is available by contacting the ACLU of Virginia at 804/644-8022 or acluva@acluva.org
Contact: Kent Willis, Office: 804/644-8022