Michigan Prisons, Restrictive Worship Policies, Michigan 2021

Michigan Prisons, Restrictive Worship Policies, Michigan 2021

Grimy Times has learned that the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) has been under fire for its restrictive worship policies, which have been deemed unconstitutional. A 2021 settlement agreement forced the agency to revamp its policies, and monitoring has revealed that the changes have been a success.

The settlement agreement, which was reached in 2021, addressed MDOC’s policies that required a five-person minimum for group worship and religious activities, prohibited group religious practice for certain religious groups, including Hindu, Yoruba, Hebrew Israelite and Thelema practitioners, and limited access to the kosher-for-Passover diet to those on the kosher diet year-round.

MDOC has since changed each of these policies to expand access to religious practice in compliance with the settlement. Under the revised policies, MDOC allows group religious practice for groups of two or more, permits previously banned religious groups to hold group services, and allows people to participate in the Passover diet even if they do not participate in the kosher diet year-round.

“All people have the right to religious freedom and the right to be free from religious discrimination in our country, and that right exists across the country, including inside our jails and prisons,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division. “Our settlement with MDOC stands as a model, helping to increase access by incarcerated people to meaningful religious activities across the system.”

U.S. citizens do not surrender their right to religious freedom upon incarceration, and my office will not stop defending an individual’s right to exercise one’s faith simply because they are serving a sentence,” stated U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan. “We are extremely pleased to see that MDOC has made significant and systemic changes to ensure that inmates in our state can practice their religion while in custody.”

The joint investigation by the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan began in 2019. The settlement agreement was signed in 2021. Since that time, the Justice Department closely monitored implementation, reviewing documents and conducting site visits. MDOC maintained substantial compliance with the settlement agreement for two years and, as a result, the department has concluded its monitoring activities.

For additional information about the Civil Rights Division and the Special Litigation Section, please visit www.justice.gov/crt/special-litigation-section. Those interested in finding out more about RLUIPA may visit www.justice.gov/crt/religious-land-use-and-institutionalized-persons-act-0.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Public Corruption

USDA Exec Cashes In on COVID-19 Relief Rewritten: USDA Exec, Embezzlement, California 2020

Apr 7, 2026

Public Corruption

Supreme Court Justice Delayed, Prohibitionists in Limbo, Washington D.C., 1919

Dec 23, 1919

Public Corruption

Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney Resigns, Tennessee 2017

Feb 1, 2017

Public Corruption

Barbara Powell, Bribing Public Employee, South Carolina 2024

Feb 23, 2018