Religion In Prisons

9 Pages 2230 Words

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In 1963, Sherbert v. Verner was selected by the United States Supreme Court to be heard. Sherbert v. Verner (1963) dealt with a woman refusing to work on a Saturday because it was her Sabbath. Her employer contested her unemployment, and the South Carolina Security Commission denied her of the benefits. The Supreme Court reversed the decision in order to allow the woman to, in fact, receive her benefits. “Plainly we are not fostering the "establishment" of the Seventh-day Adventist religion in South Carolina, for the extension of unemployment benefits to Sabbatarians in common with Sunday worshippers reflects nothing more than the governmental obligation of neutrality in the face of religious differences, and does not represent that involvement of religious with secular institutions which it is the object of the Establishment Clause” (Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, (1963). The ruling of Sherbert v. Verner started a precedent that guaranteed citizens, who are not Christians, the freedom to exercise their religious beliefs without the interference with the government unless there is a substantial burden on the government. “No government shall impose a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person unless the government demonstrates that imposition of the burden on that person is in furtherance of a compelling government interest” (374 U.S. 398).
The significance of the Sherbert v. Verner decision on prisoners’ religious freedoms was huge. Only six years later, an appellate court ruled that prisons must make accommodations regarding the diet of inmates. The case was Barnett v. Rogers 1969). Muslim inmates petitioned the District of Columbia penal system because they were not given a supplemented diet based on their religious convictions. The District dismissed the petition without a hearing. The District of Columbia Appellate declared that the case must be reversed and remanded. “The Dis...