JW USA: Montana agency finds religious discrimination against inmate

[Guest Indiana]

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A state agency has determined that the Montana Women's Prison discriminated against an inmate on the basis of religion.

The Billings Gazette reports that the Montana Human Rights Bureau found in February there was "reasonable cause" to believe there was discrimination against Mayson Simmons.

Simmons' complaint filed in August says the Department of Corrections and the prison in Billings violated the law by allowing inmates of other religious faiths to use a prison chapel for services while denying access to Jehovah's Witnesses.

The bureau says it did not find sufficient evidence to back up Simmons' claims she was denied a Jehovah's Witness bible or that she was discriminated against based on her gender and a disability.

Prison officials deny any discrimination occurred.

The case will proceed to a formal hearing.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Montana-agency-finds-religious-discrimination-13776486.php

[Srecko Sostar]

I do not know how looks like Montana woman prison chapel. Perhaps as this two on pictures?

All have the right to proselytize their religion to others (in western lands cultures). I wonder this: If prison chapel looks like chapel of "normal" christian church chapel, with cross and similar symbols, why would JW want to have Bible study in such space under "pagan" symbols? 

In every day life JW do not want to enter the church of any other religion, maybe only for touristic and historical reason. But not to listen or talking to people in the church. To have religious service on the same place where so called "satan service" also is offered, strange :))) 

 

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4 hours ago, Indiana said:

"reasonable cause" to believe there was discrimination against Mayson Simmons

I was going to pick this apart, but a more comprehensive view of the matter is provided by billingsgazette.com which gives enough information to debunk cynical speculation on the matter. I'll save my energy for something more challenging.

"A state agency has determined that the Montana Women’s Prison in Billings likely discriminated against an inmate on the basis of her religious beliefs.

The preliminary findings by the Montana Human Rights Bureau mean that the case will proceed to a formal hearing in Billings, after a requisite, 30-day effort at mediation failed last month.

The bureau wrote in a February report that the investigators “found reasonable cause to believe unlawful discrimination occurred,” following a probe into several allegations contained in Mayson Simmons’ complaint, filed last August.

Investigators did not find sufficient evidence to back up Simmons’ claims that she was denied a Jehovah’s Witness bible, or that she was discriminated against based on her disability. But the report states that the Department of Corrections likely violated the law by allowing inmates of other religious faiths to use the prison’s chapel for worship services, while denying access to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The state bureau punted on the other allegation: that the Department of Corrections discriminated against her on the basis of gender, by “providing male inmates (at the Montana State Prison) with opportunities to learn trade skills that are not provided to female inmates,” including ranch work, auto repair and veterinary assistant training.

Prison officials interviewed by the investigators denied that any discrimination, religious or otherwise, had taken place, according to the report. In the case of the religious chapel access, prison warden Jennie Hansen said that religious services are sometimes redirected to other areas in the prison when there aren’t enough security staff to accompany the religious group. This policy applies to all religious services equally, Hansen told the bureau’s investigators.

But Carlin Anderson, a Jehovah’s Witness congregation elder who has conducted worship services at the prison since 2005, said otherwise, according to the report. Anderson said that he had to speak with a prison official to convince her to stop taking the religious group off the chapel schedule after she designated the weekly services as a class, instead of a formal religious worship.

A bureau investigator found Anderson to be a “credible and reliable witness,” according to the report, and determined that Simmons provided a preponderance of evidence to prove discrimination occurred.

The other unresolved complaint — whether the women’s prison offers classes and vocational training commensurate with the much larger men’s facility in Deer Lodge — will also be decided during the formal hearing. That hearing is currently scheduled to take place later this month.

The Department of Corrections insisted that the two prisons’ programs were comparable, and that differences between the two owed mainly to their unique settings and differences in population size. The men’s prison, which houses more than 1,600 inmates, is situated next to a 38,000-acre ranch operated in part by inmates. The prison complex itself houses a vehicle maintenance shop, furniture factory, print shop and license plate factory.

The women’s prison, located on a 3-acre plot on Billings’ South Side, has “significantly less space at its disposal,” department officials argued. While the roughly 220-inmate facility includes a greenhouse, facilities for dog obedience training and embroidery and screen printing shops, “trades which require a lot of space for equipment, operation and storage are simply not feasible” at the prison, according to the report.

Simmons, speaking by phone Wednesday, said the complaint is part of her long-running effort to push women’s equality within the state’s correctional system.

“I want to see women empowered in this state,” Simmons said. “One of the big reasons women are not successful in the community when they get out (of prison) … they’re either working housekeeping, fast food or waitressing. They’re not getting the same kind of jobs that men are. They’re not able to make a living and raise a family.”

The bureau’s report notes that comparing the two is complicated. Programming at both facilities is continually changing and limited by staffing shortages, and similar court cases in other states have acknowledged arguments similar to the department’s. A court in Oregon ruled in 1994 that “the number of classes offered should at least be proportionate,” according to the report.

Ultimately, the bureau opted against reaching a conclusion on the sex-discrimination allegation. Because it had already found “reasonable cause” on a separate allegation, the entire complaint will be considered during the formal hearing.

In a statement, the department denied any allegations of "unlawful discrimination," but added that it does not disagree with the results of the investigation. The statement also suggested the issues surrounding use of the chapel "might be the result of miscommunication or a mistake."

"The Department of Corrections values the religious volunteers that take time and use their talents to provide faith formation within their facilities," Amy Barton, a department spokeswoman, added.

Data provided by the bureau show that while discrimination complaints by Montana’s prison inmates are relatively common, findings of “reasonable cause” are rare. From 2014 through 2018, state human rights investigators concluded there was “cause” in only three out of 57 such complaints that have been closed.

Another 47 of those complaints, or 77 percent, were either dismissed or withdrawn. The remainder was resolved through an agreement between the two parties — they either reached a voluntary agreement after mediation, or the plaintiff withdrew after receiving some sort of benefit."

[Srecko Sostar]

8 hours ago, Outta Here said:

she designated the weekly services as a class, instead of a formal religious worship.

Prison warden made correct conclusion in that issue, of course some would argue how this can be matter of perspective on what word "worship" means.  

Cambridge Dictionary explained:  A) to have or show a strong feeling of respect and admiration for God or a god B) to go to a religious ceremony.

Well, standard view on "worshiping god in a chapel would be some sort of ceremony and/or individual or mass prayer to god. Meeting of two (or more) persons that reading WT Publications with questions and answers (teacher - student form) is for sure class hour. Singing a songs to god would be "worshiping", reading and studying magazines are not. Reading Bible can be directed in few ways: Adoration to god and finding spirituality in self or reading stuff that happened in past or poetry or religious and anthropological research and similar.   

Worshiping god was in much an ceremony aspects, as in old Israel (feast with food and slaughtering animals for sacrifice) or assembling to offer prayers or to read Holy Scriptures. Today as in some cases, to not go to kill other people because you consider other people as children from god. Connections in people's mind about god and life can bring idea, how some sort of individual behavior in society coming from religious spirituality of that person  who by that "worship" god with his words and deeds. 

8 hours ago, Outta Here said:

Simmons, speaking by phone Wednesday, said the complaint is part of her long-running effort to push women’s equality within the state’s correctional system.

“I want to see women empowered in this state,” Simmons said. “One of the big reasons women are not successful in the community when they get out (of prison) … they’re either working housekeeping, fast food or waitressing. They’re not getting the same kind of jobs that men are. They’re not able to make a living and raise a family.”

Here we came to social reforms efforts. I have nothing against that.

What is questionable here is that this Simmons lady, who have Bible study with JW members, are involved in practice that is forbidden by WTJWORG Church. JW Bible Study teaching females to be obedient to males but she want equality for all sex (or gender). She want to see woman empowered in this state.  Here we have just opposite what is WTJWORG Policy regarding woman. Male is first, and woman are not equal to man in JW World. Looking for Social Reforms inside Prison who is run by State and Politics is area where JW want to be "Neutral". By that JW teachers who run Bible study with her obviously not came to that chapter with her, yet.  

Of course that ex female convicts needs a better chance for better jobs.

I just point here to hypocrisy of religion and some religious people.

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1 hour ago, Srecko Sostar said:

I just point here to hypocrisy of religion and some religious people.

As a living example?

[Srecko Sostar]

1 hour ago, Outta Here said:

As a living example?

While we are alive, we all are living examples.... some day in a future we all come to be death examples :))) 

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4 hours ago, Srecko Sostar said:

we all come to be death examples

Now I understand your position.