Iowa Prison Story

Rick says:  For starters, the title -- "Religion for a Captive Audience" -- seems a bit misleading, since no inmates are required to participate in the "Inner Change" program or others like it.

This is true, as far as it goes, but one key question about this program is how many "others like it" there were.  My guess is that this is not some sort of open forum or school-vouchers-like program where anyone can open up shop to try out their own rehabilitation scheme.  Almost by definition, then, this cannot generate equal treatment, even on the most religion-friendly understanding of that question.  Only a favored few groups will be able to participate and the idea that the state would fund proselytizing by one of those select groups is fairly troubling. 

It's also worth noting that goods that seem trivial to those of us not in prison -- e.g., private toilets -- might well be viewed as extremely significant benefits to those inside.  As a consequence, there might be more than a trivial amount of pressure to at least give a program like this a try.