Jail to Allow Teaching of All Faiths

Officials at Santa Ana City Jail have promised to allow the teaching of all faiths to inmates after religious leaders complained that the Police Department’s current policies are exclusionary.

The change comes amid criticism that inmates are exposed only to Protestant teachings even though some people housed at the jail are Roman Catholics and Muslims.

“We’re concerned as clergy because they are a captive audience,” said Rabbi Mel Silverman, a state Department of Corrections chaplain.

Jail officials acknowledged that the guidelines, established last year, are not adequately inclusive and said they began drawing up new ones as soon as they heard of the complaints.

“The [new] policy will make it clear that we provide access to all legitimate religious services and that no one doctrine or statement of faith will be endorsed or facilitated over another,” jail administrator Russ Davis wrote in a recent letter to concerned Catholic lay workers. “We are not adversaries in this effort, but team mates.”

At the heart of the issue is the Police Department’s decision to appoint William Cox, a Baptist clergyman, head of religious services when the jail moved into its new quarters last year.

Officials said they selected Cox, a pastor at First Baptist Church of Cypress, because of his tireless volunteer work at the jail over the years.

Cox said he proceeded to draw up guidelines governing religious instruction at the jail, basing them on his own beliefs and faith.

The guidelines call for other clergy who minister to inmates to “avoid teaching or preaching which result in open disagreement within the body of Christ. . . . Adherence to this policy minimizes confusion among inmates who may lack knowledge of God’s Word.”

The rules also state that the Bible is the “supreme and final authority of faith and practice” and that “all teaching and preaching should glorify God and lift up the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not discuss other churches and organizations.”

Cox said he drafted the policy assuming that other Protestant clergy would find them acceptable. He stressed that the policy was not meant to prohibit inmates from practicing other religions or receiving teachings that contradicted Baptist beliefs.

Cox asked that visiting clergy not discuss other churches to prevent inmates from being given what he believes is misinformation, the pastor said.

“I wanted to make sure that we’re not saying anything derogatory in regards to other religions or beliefs,” Cox said, adding that his only goal is to help the inmates.

“My concern for the people in the jail is their eternal security--are they going to be eternally in the presence of Jesus Christ,” he said. “It’s not a matter of what I like.”

But other religious leaders argue that the rules amount to a roadblock to religious diversity at the jail.

The guidelines came to the attention of the Roman Catholic diocese a few months ago when a member of the Jesuit Refugee Service Immigration Detention Project tried to minister to a Nigerian political refugee who was being detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Father Robert McChesney said he was not restricted from visiting inmates or detainees during normal visiting hours. But he said he could minister to them only if he agreed to the guidelines.

Ultimately, he said, he reluctantly agreed to follow the guidelines to minister to the Nigerian detainee.

“I signed that statement, which I don’t believe in, obviously; it’s absurd,” McChesney said. “How can God be praised unless it’s done freely? To a lot of religious people, this is horrifying.”

Haitham Bundakji, chairman of the board of the Orange County Islamic Society, said he was also disturbed by the guidelines. “The facilities are called ‘correction facilities,’ not places where you humiliate people and deprive them of their religious belief,” he said.

Santa Ana police officials said they were not aware of Cox’s guidelines and are now committed to creating a policy that allows for religious diversity.

“Religious services are a major part of a jail operation,” Davis said. “It’s like other programs and services--educational services, drug and alcohol counseling.”

Barry Lynn, executive director of Citizens United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington-based watchdog group, said he was also troubled by the Santa Ana guidelines. He noted that most jails across the country try to accommodate the religious beliefs of all inmates.

“There is a real effort that should be made to do that,” Lynn said. “It’s commendable that the jail is trying to solve the problem.”