By Lois K. Solomon | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Belle Glade – Glades Correctional Institution’s 1,390 inmates have faith.
State prison officials hope to tap into that faith to boost morale, improve prisoner rehabilitation and minimize the immense boredom of life behind bars.
On Tuesday, the Palm Beach County prison becomes South Florida’s first faith- and character-based penitentiary.
“Guys need programs and other things to do instead of running around in the rec yard all day,” said Jerry Gary, 44, a Pompano Beach man serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and sexual battery.
Florida is the only state with prisons focused exclusively on faith and character. The program started at Lawtey Correctional Institution in 2003. It expanded to Hillsborough Correctional Institutional in 2004 and Wakulla Correctional Institution in 2006. Twenty-one states have or are developing faith dormitories, state Department of Corrections spokeswoman Kathy Conner said.
Corrections officials say they expect the expansion of the program to Glades will help lower the rate at which prisoners return to prison. According to the state, 32.8 percent of released inmates return to prison within three years. Florida’s rate is better than the national rate of 50 percent to 66 percent, depending on the study.
At Florida’s other faith- and character-based institutions, the rate of return is even lower: 10 percent or below, according to preliminary state statistics. However, “the data is not mature enough to make any conclusions at this time,” according to the Department of Corrections Web site.
Prison staff members and inmates say they are thrilled by the coming changes, but some criminologists and church and state observers are hesitant. They say states across the country are investing in faith-based prisons even though they have not proved to be more effective.
“It’s a topic that’s getting increasingly more attention, but there isn’t much research to support them,” said Daniel Mears, a Florida State University criminology professor. “The programs are likely to have better outcomes because any prisoner who is volunteering is likely willing to do the work …”
Glades inmates were given the choice of participating in the nondenominational program or being moved to another prison. Those accepted had to have good disciplinary records and promise to attend their programs, which include meetings and counseling, at least once a week after work.
About 10,000 of the state’s nearly 98,000 prisoners are on waiting lists for the faith- and character-based prisons and seven faith-based and self-improvement dorms in traditional prisons.
The Florida programs depend on volunteers and there is no cost to the state. State employees are not allowed to teach the faith programs, a rule intended to guard against religious coercion by the government, Glades Warden Robert Shannon said.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is closely watching the growth of Florida’s faith-based prisons, an attorney for the organization said. It successfully sued the state of Iowa for allowing Prison Fellowship Ministries to supervise a prisoner unit; the suit also alleged discrimination against inmates who did not subscribe to its evangelical theology.
“When prisons start linking where inmates live to religious programs, that’s where serious constitutional issues arise,” said Alex Luchenitser, an Americans United attorney. “The question is, ‘Are inmates being given incentives to enroll in a prison with a religious environment?'”
James Wilson attended a Christian fellowship meeting last week at Glades and gave the program a thumbs up. Wilson, 43, is scheduled for release in November after a 2006 conviction for lewd behavior and indecent assault on a child.
“I thought it would be a good idea for the betterment of guys going back into society,” he said.
Rabbi Menachem Katz, director of prison outreach for the Surfside-based Aleph Institute, said he hopes the transformation leads to improvements for Glades’ Jewish prisoners.
Katz and volunteers visit and send gifts to about 15 Glades inmates. He said he hopes the new program makes the staff more amenable to allowing Jews to have Sabbath services Friday evenings instead of afternoons. Prison officials restrict gatherings among some inmates after dark.
“Now that there is a faith-based prison in South Florida, we hope we can get more rabbis and Jewish volunteers to visit Jewish inmates,” Katz said.
