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| Virginia prison's race policy on religion struck down |
| By Washington Post |
| Published: 02/19/2001 |
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Virginia prisoner Gary David Morrison Jr. wanted to practice his religion, so he asked for access to sacred herbs, medicine bags and feathers -- items used in Native American religious ceremonies. Officials at Greensville Correctional Center in Virginia turned the convicted murderer down because the items are normally banned as personal property. Morrison, 31, didn't qualify for a Native American religious exemption, they said, because he's white. On February 7, a federal appeals court struck down that policy as race discrimination. Although prison officials may have legitimate security concerns about the items, they can't allow some inmates access to them and not others simply based on their ethnicity, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. Virginia officials 'have failed to demonstrate that the requested spiritual items are any less dangerous in the hands of a Native American inmate, as opposed to a non-Native American inmate who sincerely wishes to practice Native American spirituality,' Judge William B. Traxler Jr. wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel, upholding a U.S. District Court decision. Most inmates at Greensville -- including Morrison -- are serving life terms for violent crimes, and attorneys for the state had argued that herbs and medicine bags can be used to disguise illegal drugs and that feathers are sometimes sharpened into weapons. A spokesman for state Attorney General Mark L. Earley said the office is studying the 19-page decision to determine whether to appeal. American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia officials, who represented Morrison, said they were pleased. 'Even in prison, the state cannot discriminate on the basis of race,' said Rebecca Glenberg, ACLU legal director. The appeals court did not order the prison to give Morrison the items. Rather, the judges told the state to deal with the security concerns on a racially neutral basis. |
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