A case coming before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals could end up having major legal ramifications for all religious minorities in the United States. Wiccan chaplain Patrick McCollum has been fighting for years to overturn the State of California’s “five faiths policy”, which limits the hiring of paid chaplains to Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Native American adherents. While McCollum has suffered setbacks in his quest, with a California federal district court ruling in early 2009 that he had no standing to bring his suit, he recently gained support on appeal from several civil and religious rights groups who argue that his case should be heard.
“The true historic meaning of “religion” excludes paganism and witchcraft, and thus, does not compel a conclusion that McCollum has state taxpayer standing … paganism and witchcraft were never intended to receive the protections of the Religion Clauses. Thus, in the present case there can be no violation of those clauses … Should this Court conclude that McCollum has taxpayer standing … this Court should at least acknowledge that its conclusion is compelled by Supreme Court precedent, not by history or the intent of the Framers.”The Wall Builders' brief states that it is being filed with the consent of the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. In a statement from McCollum, he says that lawyers for the CDCR have argued from the beginning of this long legal saga that there are two “tiers” of religion in America.
In one of their first arguments to the court, the defendants said that certain “traditional” faiths are first tier faiths and that those faiths were meant to have equal rights and protections under the United States Constitution, but that all of the other faiths were second tier faiths, and were not meant to have the same equal rights and protections under the United States Constitution as the first tier faiths.Note: In 2007, the military approved the use of the pentacle on military headstones of dead pagan servicepersons. And more recently, the Air Force Academy set up a circle of standing stones for use by Wiccan/Pagan/etc cadets in their religious observances.
history or the intent of the Framers
I’d like to start with a few true examples of discrimination to illustrate the severity of the problem:Saying to a Pagan chaplain "No, you may not move the chairs into a circle to create a sacred space, the inmates must sit in rows and you must give your sermon [which Pagan Chaplains don't do] from the pulpit" may seem like not much of a problem to an outsider.
A Wiccan inmate has cancer and the prison guards refuse to transport him to his chemotherapy treatments unless he removes his religious pentacle medallion which they have objections to. He chooses to forgo his chemotherapy and keep his pentacle.
A Wiccan inmate has been trying to go to Wiccan services for months, but the guard at her dorm refuses to give her a pass. The guard says it is for the good of the Wiccan inmate's soul.
Another dying Wiccan writes his volunteer chaplain that he needs to see him before he crosses over. The chaplain makes numerous attempts to reach prison staff to receive the necessary clearances, but no one responds. But worse, prison mailroom staff refuse to forward the chaplain's mail, so that the inmate knows why his chaplain isn't coming.
Over more than a decade, I’ve had the opportunity to interact nationally with both administrators and inmates on religious accommodation issues. While practices differ from state to state, I found discrimination against minority faiths everywhere. The reason for this is what I call the Dominant Religion Lens Factor.
I have here, available for download, the entire complaint, which shows that it was filed as a class action alongside several Pagan inmates. Not, as past media coverage has implied, by McCollum alone (emph. mine)...posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 4:59 PM on February 1, 2010
The complaint also lists the various discriminatory actions against Pagan inmates and McCollum perpetrated by the California correctional system. In addition, I was provided a copy of a document that proves the California Department of Correction’s key official and witness committed perjury before the court, regarding the most key components of the state’s case against Pagans...
It’s becoming increasingly clear that there’s a very good reason why the State of California wants to deny McCollum standing, because if this goes to trial it could potentially explode into a huge scandal, and cost several officials their jobs.
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posted by Caduceus at 2:29 PM on February 1, 2010 [13 favorites]