The New York Times reported yesterday that the federal Bureau of Prisons is under pressure from all sides to change its policy of restricting the books that can be in prison chapel libraries. (See prior postings 1, 2, 3, 4.) The Republican Study Committee, a caucus of conservative House of Representatives members, wrote Bureau’s director Harley G. Lappin on Wednesday, saying, "We must ensure that in America the federal government is not the undue arbiter of what may or may not be read by our citizens." (Full text of letter.) However the Bureau of Prisons said it is not reconsidering its decision that stemmed from a 2004 Justice Department Inspector General's report warning that radical books that incite violence and hate may be on chapel library shelves.
Interestingly, along with this article, the Times has posted the list of acceptable books for each of 19 different religious groups that the Bureau of Prisons has placed on its Standardized Chapel Library Project lists. The Bureau took this approach after initial attempts to review every book in chapel libraries became unmanageable. Examination of the book lists is fascinating. The lists contain many audio-visual items as well as books. For some religious groups, the number of permitted items is well over 300, while other lists are much shorter. A list for "Other Religions" for example, contains only two books-- both on Christian Science. The Yoruba list has 76 items, while Messianic (i.e. Messianic Judaism) gets 60. The Catholic and Protestant lists are among the longest. The Jewish list is somewhat shorter with 134 items. Separate lists are furnished for Islam and Nation of Islam.
The Bureau told representatives of Christian and Jewish prison chaplains that a book could be restored to the chapel library if a prisoner requested it and a chaplain reviewed the book and sent a certification to the Bureau in Washington for review. Rabbi Aaron Lipskar, executive director of the Aleph Institute, said it is unrealistic to expect chaplains to have time to review books in this way. [Thanks to Melissa Rogers for the lead.]
