Pubdate: Sat, 21 May 2005
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2005 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Patrick Marley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

PRISONERS REGAIN MASS EN ESPANOL

Corrections Reverses Recent English-Only Order

Madison - The state Department of Corrections recently ordered the
cancellation of religious ceremonies in foreign languages over
security concerns, unaware that religious study groups and services
had been offered in Spanish and other foreign tongues for years.

Last week, department officials reversed themselves after realizing
the sweeping decree would have barred long-running religious
exercises, including Islamic services in Arabic and Native American
sweat lodge ceremonies. Jewish groups also wouldn't have been allowed
to use Hebrew, the language of the Torah.

Compliance with the order was spotty because of numerous questions
around the terse order, but Spanish Bible studies were suspended at
one prison, and a planned Spanish Mass at another was cancelled.

Priests and prisoners involved in the religious programs questioned
why their activities were considered risks.

"When we all come to church, we feel better," said Juan Moreno, a
Dodge Correctional Institution prisoner who attends Spanish Mass.

"We take this good feeling with us back to our unit," he said. "You
have someone locked up in their cell that doesn't have this spiritual
strength, it's going to affect their demeanor. (Spanish Mass) makes
where we are easier to take."

In late March, a group of volunteers asked prison officials if they
could hold Bible studies in Spanish at the Stanley Correctional
Institution. On April 4, Sam Schneiter, the acting security chief for
the prison system, sent an e-mail to all wardens banning
foreign-language activities.

Schneiter conferred with department lawyer Dolores Kester, as well as
Ana Boatwright and Pam Wallace, the department's top religious advisers.

What Schneiter didn't know at the time was that for years Wisconsin
prisons had offered religious services and studies in a variety of
languages.

As a result of his order, religious leaders and volunteers for a month
were left in limbo as some wardens told them they could not offer
services, at least in the short term.

Corrections Secretary Matthew Frank's office reversed the decision May
13, a day after the Journal Sentinel asked about the department's
policy. Frank was not directly involved in setting the latest rules,
spokesman John Dipko said.

Schneiter's memo said, "Volunteers are not allowed to provide a
program in a language other than English." Frank said that should not
have been interpreted to include worship services, even though that is
how many prison officials took the message. The memo didn't cover
court-mandated services such as drug-treatment programs.

"As far as I'm concerned, there was not a change in our policy. . . .
We have many faith-based organizations who do wonderful work coming
into our prisons conducting worship services," Frank said. "It wasn't
really a change in policy, it was attempting to address a question."

Nonetheless, Schneiter's ruling prompted the Kettle Moraine
Correctional Institution in Plymouth to cancel its regular Bible study
in Spanish. Oshkosh Correctional Institution, which was gearing up for
a new Spanish Mass, canceled its service as well.

A similar plan to start Spanish Mass at Waupun Correctional
Institution also didn't start, but it remained unclear Friday if that
decision was connected to Schneiter's order.

The volunteer Bible study group that sparked the policy reversal is
expected to start soon at Stanley, Dipko said.

Security Concerns

Schneiter said that when officials at Stanley asked him about the
volunteer Bible group, he determined it could make the prison less
secure because many correctional officers don't speak Spanish.

"When contacts are attempted between the outside and inside of
institutions, we need to be sure those communications are legitimate .
. . and don't lead to any criminal activity or present security
concerns," he said.

Schneiter said he wasn't aware of the number of Spanish Bible studies
being conducted when he made his ruling. He said he was now
comfortable with allowing those groups to continue.

The latest rules allow religious programs or services that were
already running to continue. Proposals for new foreign-language
religious programs will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

On Friday, some 50 inmates - the vast majority of whom speak only
Spanish - attended the Spanish Mass at Dodge led by Father Jose Moreno
of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Milwaukee. 'A little oasis'

"It is very, very important" for them to get religious services in
their native tongue, Moreno said. "One guy from Waupun told me nobody
knows what the loneliness is like. (Spanish Mass) is this little
oasis. It is like coming back to life.

"They feel because it is in Spanish that they're taken into account,
like it's our own."

Moreno is not related to the inmate Moreno.

Inmate Francisco Munoz, who plays guitar at the Dodge services, said
he was thankful for the Mass. "I used to come to the service in
English, too, but it's . . . better in my own language," he said.

Father Moreno's services at Dodge and the Fox Lake Correctional
Institution were not interrupted by the recent memo. Dodge Deputy
Warden Mark Heise said he did not stop any services because he knew a
number of people had raised questions about Schneiter's directive and
that the matter had not been settled.

The priest had also arranged to start regular Spanish Masses at Waupun
and Oshkosh after a successful one-time visit to Waupun. But just as
he was preparing to go to Oshkosh, he was told not to come, he said.

"I got an e-mail saying, 'We have to postpone this. It has nothing to
do with you personally. There are some issues in Madison,' " the
priest recalled.

Ronald Beyah, the imam at Dodge, said he was concerned the order would
have stopped his weekly Islamic service and Arabic class. "It would be
impossible to conduct the Islamic services without the Arabic
language," he said.

Father James Vojtik, a Catholic priest at St. Mary's Catholic Church
in Belgium, for years has led a twice-monthly Spanish Bible study
group at the Kettle Moraine prison. When he arrived for the service
April 18, chaplain Kenneth George told him he couldn't meet with the
group, which sings, reads the Gospel and discusses Catholic teachings.

Vojtik said George did not have a clear explanation of why it was no
longer allowed.

"I was just disappointed because I thought we were doing a service
that was of help to the prisoners," said Vojtik, who returned to the
prison this week. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake