Hard time will soon be hallowed time for nearly 800 Florida inmates who will be given the option of repaying their debt to society in the nation's first prison dedicated entirely to faith-based rehabilitation programs.
Gov. Jeb Bush made the surprise announcement Friday at a White House-sponsored news conference in Tampa that spotlighted President Bush's attempts to give religious organizations a greater role in solving social problems.
"I believe that when people commit violent acts, it is appropriate to enforce the laws and that people should be punished for their actions," Gov. Bush said. "But I also believe that lives can be changed.
"For those individuals who are motivated to change their lives, programs like this can make a tremendous difference and create a pathway out of the criminal justice system."
Under the governor's plan, the entire Lawtey Correctional Institution in rural Bradford County, with its eight prison dormitories and 791 inmates, will house inmates who have volunteered for the program. To be eligible, they will have to be within three years of completing their sentences and have had a clean prison record for the previous 12 months, said Florida Department of Corrections spokesman Sterling Ivey.
"To our knowledge, there is no other correctional system in the country that is operating a prison exclusively with faith-based programming," Ivey said.
Prisoners who meet the minimum requirements will be offered space at the facility on a first-come, first-served basis. Once accepted, they will receive religion-based classes in everything from parenting and character building to job training, Ivey said.
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But critics were quick to condemn the move. Among them was the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which last month successfully sued to remove a replica of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama State Supreme Court, a legal battle that eventually cost that state's chief justice his job.
Eight months ago, the group filed a federal lawsuit challenging a program in the Iowa prison system that is similar to the existing Florida program. That suit has yet to be heard.
Spending taxpayer dollars on a faith-based prison violates Florida and federal constitutional bans on establishment of a state religion, said the group's executive director, Barry Lynn, who predicted his group would succeed easily if it challenges the Florida program.
Ivey said the state expects the program to survive legal challenges. "We understand the legalities involved here, but we're operating under a voluntary program," he said.
But Lynn said: "The voluntary aspect is almost of no consequence. It is government-supported religion, and it is just as unconstitutional in a prison as it would be in a public housing project...."
