Fired Prison Chaplain Settles Her Claim Against Minnesota

Yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune reports on a settlement that has been reached in a lawsuit filed by a former Minnesota prison chaplain who says she was fired for speaking out against the state's use of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative program which she believed would violate the Establishment Clause by promoting evangelical Christianity. (See prior posting.) State prison officials deny that this was their reason for firing Presbyterian minister Kristine Holmgren. They say it was because of a change in the classification of her job.  Under the settlement, Holmgren will receive $227,500.  However the controversial InnerChange program continues to operate in two Minnesota prisons.