Five inmates at a Florence prison camp have sued the federal prison system claiming they are denied the same religious privileges as Muslims, Native Americans, Vikings, Catholics and Mormons.
Kendrick Barnes, David A. Banks, Demetrius K. Harper, Clinton A. Stewart and David A. Zirpolo sued the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Chaplain Jason Henderson and the Florence Minimum Security Camp Facility.
Colorado Springs attorney Gwendolyn Lawson filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver. The inmates have all been members of the non-denominational Colorado Springs Fellowship Church founded in 1981.
The inmates seek a court injunction ordering Warden C. R. Goetz and Henderson to allow them to view DVDs of their religious services and let them have access to the King James Bible and magazines about their beliefs and practices.
They also seek monetary damage awards for violation of their constitutional rights and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
The plaintiffs have all been model inmates at the minimum security camp in Florence for five years, the lawsuit says.
In 2013, the fellowship church sent the inmates 10 DVDs of church services. Henderson subsequently approved the content. He had each of the inmates sign a consent form that would allow them and anyone else to view the videos.
But five years later Henderson has never let the five inmates view their fellowship church DVDs. At one point plaintiff Zirpolo asked to view a Catholic service. Henderson allowed him to do so but also recommended he consider changing his faith to Protestant.
“The chaplain and the warden are discriminating against the plaintiffs on the basis of religion or religious denomination,” the lawsuit says.
The fellowship church sent its Christmas DVD to its five members at the prison camp on Jan. 2. But Henderson denied the inmates an opportunity to view the DVDs on Jan. 11. The plaintiffs said his action was in retaliation after the five inmates spoke with Goetz and attorneys for the prison camp. Henderson told them he was sending the videos back to the church.
Goetz also denied the request, explaining that inmates already had access to numerous Christmas resources. He added that the prison camp had limited resources to handle the materials provided by the high number of outside congregations and religious groups.
The inmates argue, however, that the prison allowed members of the Asatru, or Viking religious group, to receive DVDS of the History Channel’s fiction series, “The Vikings.”
Also, Native American members of Santeria are provided fire wood for their sweat lodges and are allowed to smoke cigars unsupervised. They also are allowed to have DVDs including westerns and the movie “Billy Jack.” Members of the Nation of Islam have been permitted to have DVDs of Louis Farrakhan calling on believers to “rise up against the white man” and have been given prayer rugs. The Mormons can watch Christmas videos including sermons and performances by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the lawsuit says.
The other religious groups have lockers so they can manage their own materials, the lawsuit says.
“The only group not allowed to self-manage their religious materials beliefs and practices are the plaintiffs,” the lawsuit says. “The plaintiffs are Christians and are being denied the freedom to exercise their religion and non-denominational beliefs and practices.”
