Religious Liberty in America's Corrections

Abstract

Religious liberty is an important American freedom. Most existing research and current debates over its scope examine its application in everyday life for citizens. But religious liberty is sharply curtailed in America’s corrections, which receives considerably less attention from scholars and advocates. This thesis provides a novel examination into its history in America’s corrections, its current problems, its justifications, and potential solutions. It traces the history from America’s founding to the present to understand the development of religious liberty in corrections. Then, it identifies a litany of on-the-ground problems and legal barriers that inhibit inmates’ exercise of their religious liberty. Next, it analyzes the need for religious liberty in corrections and argues for a theory of “pluralistic rehabilitation” to justify it. Finally, it defends the duty of the federal government to intervene and presents ways in which each of its three branches may be able to remedy some current problems.