Connecticut’s Department of Correction has agreed to establish a process that would allow incarcerated people to lead religious services for their designated religions, a major policy change aimed at alleviating concerns about the suppression of religious rights in the state’s jails and prisons.
The change will come as part of a recent settlement between the Connecticut DOC and the federal Department of Justice, which launched an investigation in 2020 over whether the state agency was in accordance with the Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act.
The longstanding federal law prohibits correctional institutions from placing any burden on religious expression unless they can demonstrate that their actions are “to further a compelling governmental interest and are the least restrictive ways of doing so.”
The DOC’s current Religious Services Directive does not allow for congregations without an authorized chaplain or a religious volunteer who practices the same religion, which has left people with serious questions about the constitutionality and legality of halting services when someone is unavailable to conduct them.
The agency has agreed to revise the directive to, in the absence of an agency chaplain or religious volunteer of the same faith, allow chaplains of other faiths to supervise collective religious services and programs. Collective religious services and programs are defined in the agreement as any gathering of more than four incarcerated people for religious purposes, including congregate prayer, the study of sacred texts, and the observance of holidays.
The plan also allows for the DOC to assign incarcerated people, who will be supervised by correctional staff, as “conductors of collective religious services and programs for their designated religion” in the event that a chaplain or volunteer is unavailable.
The conductor will undergo approval by the DOC’s director of religious services, who will assess the individual’s disciplinary record, programming record, ability to positively interact with others and ability to develop a plan for religious service activities.
The agency’s facilities will also collect and analyze data to help determine whether any “substantial burdens” exist to access collective religious services and activities, and to determine whether the agreed-upon policy changes create the intended effect of increasing access to services.
In a statement to The Connecticut Mirror on Monday, DOC Commissioner Angel Quiros said the agency is committed to “providing every individual under our supervision the opportunity to practice their respective religious beliefs.”
“Aside from these rights being guaranteed in our country’s Constitution, and codified by federal law, it’s simply the right thing to do,” Quiros added.
The DOJ said in a statement that it “remains steadfast in its commitment to protecting the religious rights of all persons, including those who are incarcerated.”
“This agreement will protect the religious practices of people held in correctional facilities across Connecticut by expanding the available options for supervising group religious activities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who works in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The agreement comes nearly a decade after Connecticut agreed to settle a federal case involving Kevin Harris, an incarcerated person who sought the DOC’s recognition of the Five-Percent Nation and alleged that his reading materials were seized because prison officials considered them contraband.
Harris was effectively “barred from practicing his religion in any way,” according to his legal complaint, which shared similarities with the complaints of two other prisoners.
Late last year, the CT Mirror also reported how York Correctional in Niantic halted Muslim religious services for nearly a month amid an escalating war in the Middle East and sharp increases in Islamophobia. For incarcerated people, religious participation has demonstrated positive effects on personal well-being.
[Complaints after CT prison halts Muslim prayer services for weeks]
In his recent budget, Gov. Ned Lamont proposed allotting $560,000 to the DOC for six chaplain positions and to increase the availability of religious services.
“It’s an obligation we have to make those services available to that population,” said Jeffrey Beckham, Lamont’s budget director. “We want to make sure we have resources to do that.”
The new agreement with the DOJ requires the state to exhaust all options, including considering whether a person in prison can lead a service, before a program is denied, canceled or postponed.