{"id":2736,"date":"2011-06-05T21:14:41","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T03:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2736"},"modified":"2011-06-05T21:16:43","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T03:16:43","slug":"lawyers-comment-on-the-pagan-prison-chaplain-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2736","title":{"rendered":"Lawyers Comment on the Pagan Prison Chaplain Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of all the discussions of the prisoner “free exercise of religion” issue that produced a lawsuit brought by California volunteer Pagan prison chaplain Patrick McCollum<\/a>, I recommend that you read\u00a0 Wiccan lawyer Hecate Demetersdatter’s explanation.<\/a><\/p>\n

The appeals court has not decided on the rightness or wrongness of the basic question, but it has upheld the lower court’s ruling that McCollum does not have legal standing to bring the case, because he cannot show that he himself has been injured.<\/p>\n

But here’s where, IMHO<\/a>, Judge Schroeder sets out a clear path that shows how to build a successful case. Pagans need to request visits from Pagan chaplains (in hospital, when they are concerned about their family members, before appeals and other trials, etc.) and document that they get denied because their chaplains are not “regular paid chaplains.” They’ll probably also have to accept a visit from, say, a Catholic priest who counsels them about the evils of Witchcraft and then show why that didn’t work for them, because CDCR’s<\/a> policy seems to envision paid chaplains ministering to prisoners outside their religions when necessary. And then, with the help of McCollum and those willing to raise funds and do magic, etc., they’ll have to pursue their claims in a timely manner.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More careful foundational work is going to be required, in other words. Someone\u2014or better yet, several someones\u2014is going to have to show “injury.”<\/p>\n

Prisoner “free exercise” cases are not slam-dunks. Law blogger Howard Friedman lists a couple of recent instances that have not gone well for Pagan prisoners.<\/a> (Watch his blog:<\/strong> these cases turn up frequently.)<\/p>\n

Friedman’s summary of the McCollum decision<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The court concluded that many of the chaplain’s claims were derivative of inmate’s claims, and the inmate plaintiffs were dismissed because their claims were untimely or they had failed to exhaust administrative remedies. It rejected the chaplain’s claims that he had either third-party or taxpayer standing to assert the religious rights of Wiccan inmates.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which again is about the issue of standing. I see no point in further appeals. It sounds as though a whole new case would be more successful, given time and willing plaintiffs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of all the discussions of the prisoner “free exercise of religion” issue that produced a lawsuit brought by California volunteer Pagan prison chaplain Patrick McCollum, I recommend that you read\u00a0 Wiccan lawyer Hecate Demetersdatter’s explanation. The appeals court has not decided on the rightness or wrongness of the basic question, but it has upheld the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-2736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-religion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-I8","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5265,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5265","url_meta":{"origin":2736,"position":0},"title":"Appeals Court Grants Partial Victory in California Chaplain Case","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ninth Circuit Court has partly upheld the Wiccan challenge (headed by volunteer prison chaplain Patrick McCollum) to California's \"Five Faiths\" policy for who gets paid prison chaplains and who does not. Read this helpful blog post from FindLaw and ponder the question, was there a Jewish crime wave in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":244,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=244","url_meta":{"origin":2736,"position":1},"title":"Pentagon turns to Wiccan chaplain\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 13, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Pentagon turns to Wiccan chaplain Patrick McCollum, Wiccan chaplain in the California state prison system and advisor to Wiccan prison chaplains in several other states, is now advising the Pentagon on Wiccan soldiers' needs, according to the Contra Costa Times in this article. The article requires registration. Why do newspapers\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1311,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1311","url_meta":{"origin":2736,"position":2},"title":"BeliefNet Article Looks at Wiccan Chaplain’s Lawsuit","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"As mentioned here previously and at The Wild Hunt, Patrick McCollum, volunteer Wiccan prison chaplain in California, has sued the state to overturn a policy of hiring paid chaplains only from certain religions. A new article at BeliefNet summarizes the case. Excerpts:Supported by interfaith scholars and church-state separationists, the Rev.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"California\"","block_context":{"text":"California","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=california"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2226,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2226","url_meta":{"origin":2736,"position":3},"title":"DADT Repeals Raises Issues for Wiccan Chaplains–Assuming that We Had Wiccan Chaplains, That Is","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Terry Mattingly at Get Religion, a blog about religion and journalism, looks at some of the fallout from the \"don't ask, don't tell' repeal for military chaplains. His main question is whether a new military policy on homosexuals serving openly (they have always been there clandestinely) will affect the ability\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":675,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=675","url_meta":{"origin":2736,"position":4},"title":"Courting the Lady, a Wiccan\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Courting the Lady, a Wiccan AutobiographySome know Patrick McCollum as California's official state Pagan prison chaplain, who has advised correctional systems across the country. Some know him as a jewelry designer.But he has also been working on his autobiography as a Witch, beginning with his teenage years, and the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1037,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1037","url_meta":{"origin":2736,"position":5},"title":"Denver Post Discovers Local Pagans","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Denver's Pagan community is featured in The Denver Post According to chatter on the local listservs, the \"leaving a bottle of whiskey\" bit was the reporter's misunderstanding.Not surprisingly, Colorado's hard-working Wiccan chaplains were completely ignored in this Post article, which seems to suggest that only the Middle Eastern Monotheisms\u2122 can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Colorado\"","block_context":{"text":"Colorado","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=colorado"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2736"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2739,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2736\/revisions\/2739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}