State officials praise Supreme Court’s inmate religion decision

Thursday, June 26, 1997 | 11:48 a.m.

Prison Director Bob Bayer said RFRA was a tough problem because inmates used it to try to justify what he viewed as procedural, safety and other violations in the prison system.

Anne Cathcart of the attorney general's office agreed, saying convicts used the act to demand special food, private space away from other inmates, special religious ceremonies and even drugs they claimed were necessary for their own individual religious practices.

"One of the worst was demanding pornographic or hate literature based on their religious beliefs," she said.

Bayer said the Nevada prison system has no problem with helping to accommodate legitimate religious needs within reason. He cited as an example the Native American sweat lodges at Nevada prisons, pointing out they have been there for more than 20 years.

But he agreed with Cathcart: "What bothered me most was the racist literature coming in that we feel would inflame the population."

Cathcart said one extreme example was the demand by an inmate in Iowa for a gong, which was a major disturbance to other inmates in the facility. But she said the Nevada prison system also had some strange requests such as the demand by a member of the Orthodox Jewish faith for a separate kosher kitchen. He also didn't want to be searched by guards unless they too were members of his faith.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said another demand in Nevada was for the right to hold secret group ceremonies without guards present.

She said the high court's decision ruling that law unconstitutional restores the balance between inmate rights and valid concerns for prison safety and management.

"Inmates will be allowed to continue genuine religious practices but, at the same time, prison authorities will have the ability to curtail abuses," she said.