Utah Pardons Board Cleared Of Religious Favoritism Charge

In Granguillhome v. Utah Board of Pardons, [scroll to pg. 76] (D UT, Dec. 7, 2006), a Utah federal district court rejected claims by inmates at a Utah state correctional facility that the state's Board of Pardons and Parole has given preferential treatment to sex offenders who are members of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints. The court held that plaintiffs had failed to produce sufficient evidence to support their Free Exercise claim. The court also rejected plaintiffs' Establishment Clause claims. It found one instance of the Board's questioning of an inmate about his religious beliefs to be troubling, but said that there is no evidence that this kind of questioning is routine.