Wiccan Prison Chaplain May Proceed With Establishment Clause Claim

In McCollum v. State of California, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58026 (ND CA, Aug. 8, 2006), a Wiccan clergyman who is a volunteer chaplain in a California prison challenged California's policy that limits salaried prison chaplain positions to members of five faiths. Only Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Native American clergy can be hired. The court dismissed a number of plaintiff's claims, in some cases because they related to prisoners' free exercise of religion, not to his own. The court, however, permitted plaintiff to proceed on his Establishment Clause claim challenging the Five Faiths policy. It also permitted him to proceed on equal protection and First Amendment retaliation claims relating to various denials of access as a volunteer chaplain to Wiccan prisoners.