Appeals Court Urged to Reinstate Faith-Based Program in Iowa Prisons
by Allie Martin
October 11, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Earlier this year, a federal judge ordered the InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI), a proven, faith-based prisoner rehabilitation program, to shut down in Iowa prisons. But now, several high-profile groups representing government, legal, and faith-based entities have asked a federal appeals court to allow the Christ-centered prison program to continue in that state. The federal judge who ordered IFI shut down in Iowa prisons claimed the program was unconstitutional. The rehabilitation program was ordered to reimburse the State of Iowa $1.5 million -- money paid to IFI by the state to run the program.
However, a number of religious, legal, and government entities feel the judge did not base his decision to close the faith- and values-based prison initiative on legal criteria. These parties, including the American Center for Law and Justice, the Foundation for Moral Law, the State of Alabama, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and others, have filed amicus briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals, asking it to overturn the previous ruling.
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Mark Earley |
Mark Earley is president of Prison Fellowship, which oversees the InnerChange Freedom Initiative. He says its faith-based programs address a great need, as the U.S. has some 2.3 million people in prison today, and 700,000 of them get out every year and are rearrested at the rate of 65 percent. Earley believes proven programs like IFI can have a dramatic impact on the lives of prison inmates. "And the transforming work of Christ in their life and the transforming power of the gospel can be clearly demonstrated here for the rest of the world to see," he contends. That is because the program is designed to help prisoners become prepared for life after their release, he says.
The Prison Fellowship spokesman says there are several important elements that make IFI work, including Bible studies that help prisoners learn about and grow in their faith. Also, he notes, IFI provides "some opportunities for them to get training and life skills."
Prisoners can be equipped to lead a different kind of life after prison through IFI's life-skills training, learning many of the skills involved "in being a father or a mother, being a good parent, a good husband or good wife," Earley says. So what inmates get from the training, he explains, is "a lot of practical things as well as spiritual formation."
Among the other groups filing legal briefs in support of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative and Prison Fellowship are the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, the National Legal Foundation, and a coalition of faith-based organizations that includes the Alliance Defense Fund, the National Association of Evangelicals, Teen Challenge, and the Coalition to Preserve Religious Freedom.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
