Newton prison to end religious program that prompted legal fight

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NEWTON(AP) — State officials say they will end a Bible-based treatment program at Newton prison that has been the subject of a five-year court battle. The Iowa Department of Corrections has notified Prison Fellowship Ministries in Virginia that the program, called the InnerChange Freedom Initiative, will end by mid-March, prison spokesman Fred Scaletta said in a copyright story in The Des Moines Register. Prison Fellowship sponsored a Christianity-based values program for inmates. It had a three-year state contract that ended in June. Prison officials had granted the organization a one-year extension with donations covering the expenses. A provision in the agreement allows the prison to cancel the program if its enrollment drops below 60 inmates. That is expected to happen after a March 14 graduation ceremony for 27 prisoners, Scaletta said. The program has been the subject of a protracted legal fight with Americans United for the Separation of Church and State in Washington, D.C. The advocacy group has fought the program in court since 2003. It contends the program represents an unconstitutional merger of church and state. In December, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis ruled that the program advanced religion at government expense and that taxpayer money could not be used to finance the program. The program — and the court case — had received national attention because they were thought to be a test of President Bush’s push for faith-based initiatives. Similar programs are sponsored by Prison Fellowship at prisons in Arkansas, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Texas. The program has been in place in Newton for eight years. It has operated solely on donations since July 1, 2007, when Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, signed legislation eliminating a state tax money appropriation. Inmates in the InnerChange program spend seven days a week in work, education and prayer. Prison Fellowship has contended the program is voluntary and produces secular benefits such as improving inmates behavior, reducing the number of people returning to prison and protecting public safety. Former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley, president of Prison Fellowship Ministries, said Friday that he was not surprised by Iowa officials’ decision. He said he does not consider the decision directly related to the federal litigation.