Weir v. Nix

890 F. Supp. 769

Milton WEIR, Plaintiff, v. Crispus NIX, James Helling, Mary Piper, and the State of Iowa, Defendants.

Civ. No. 4-91-cv-30463.

United States District Court, S.D. Iowa, Central Division.

May 25, 1995.

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Patrick E. Ingram, Mears Law Office, Iowa City, IA, for plaintiff.

Kristin W. Ensign, Iowa Asst. Atty. Gen., Des Moines, IA, for defendants.

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND ORDER FOR JUDGMENT

WALTERS, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff, an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary ("ISP") in Fort Madison, Iowa, brings this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ("RFRA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000bb-2000bb-4 (1988). The Court has jurisdiction by reason of 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(a)(3). The matter came on for trial on December 13, 1994. Plaintiff appeared and was represented by his attorney, Mr. Patrick Ingram. Defendants were represented by Iowa Assistant Attorney General, Kristin W. Ensign. The parties previously consented to trial by a United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and the matter was referred to the undersigned.

I.

This action involves, principally, the rights of plaintiff Milton Weir as a protective custody inmate and fundamentalist Christian to the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and, more recently, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), Pub.L. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (now codified at 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000bb-2000bb-4). Plaintiff claims that prison policies and practices restrict his free exercise of religion in various particulars and, with respect to a number of publications withheld from him, his First Amendment right to free speech or expression. He also alleges that in some circumstances he has been denied equal protection of the laws with respect to the exercise of his religious beliefs, and that defendants have violated a decree in another case decided in this district involving the status of protective custody inmates. Plaintiff sues the penitentiary's former warden, Crispus Nix, its correctional treatment director, James Helling, and a mail room clerk, Mary Piper. Helling has supervisory responsibility for religious activity at ISP. Piper is sued only in connection with an incident in which Weir was not allowed to receive certain publications. The State of Iowa is sued on the RFRA claim.

In view of the breadth of plaintiff's complaints and their evolvement through the course of litigation, the Court, at the conclusion of the trial, directed plaintiff to file a post-trial brief indicating with specificity what relief was requested in light of the evidence presented. Plaintiff's counsel complied and plaintiff's post-trial brief identifies the issues with accompanying requests for declaratory relief, injunctive relief, and damages. The issues identified by plaintiff provide an appropriate framework for the findings of fact and discussion which follows. The Court has carefully considered the record evidence, the arguments and statements of counsel, and now finds and concludes as follows on the issues presented.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

Weir's fundamentalist beliefs. Plaintiff Milton Weir is an inmate at ISP where he has been confined since 1986. He is incarcerated voluntarily in protective custody. Weir is a graduate of Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa where, Weir testified, he received bachelor's and master's degrees. Weir converted to biblical Christianity at age eighteen. At the time of trial he was thirty-five.

Weir professes to be a fundamentalist Christian. His education, obvious familiarity with doctrine, and determined pursuit of his beliefs in prison lead the Court to conclude he sincerely believes in fundamental Christianity. In addition, two fundamentalist pastors, John Raney and Gerald Howarth, testified they were acquainted with Weir, that he has shown himself knowledgeable of Bible doctrine and, according to Howarth, is a "scholar of the Word."

Defendants point out that pornography is inconsistent with fundamentalist belief and introduced evidence that as late as a week or two before trial Weir received an allegedly pornographic publication, the most recent of a number of publications of this type received by Weir over the years. Weir denied an interest in pornography generally and the receipt of certain of the publications referred to by the defendants. While conduct inconsistent with an expressed religious belief may call into question the sincerity with which that belief is held, the gap between the ideal and reality is a universal feature of human experience. Viewed against Weir's demonstrated interest and background in fundamentalist Christianity, his periodic receipt of pornographic literature does not require a finding he is insincere in his beliefs.

The evidence in this case suggests there are variations in the doctrine adhered to by persons professing to be fundamentalist Christians. Though they share basic tenets, fundamentalists do not make up a doctrinally homogeneous group. The Court is limited in this case to discussing fundamentalism as explained by Weir and the other witnesses who testified on the subject. With this in mind, the record here indicates that some fundamentalists like Weir consider themselves distinct from Protestants. These fundamentalists do not consider themselves as having broken from the Roman Catholic Church, but rather, as never having been a part of it. They regard themselves as spiritual descendants of the early Baptists. By another view, held by Protestant prison Chaplain Delwin Vande Krol, also a fundamentalist, fundamentalism is a movement within conservative protestantism. Exhibit C.

Regardless of whether fundamentalism is considered within the umbrella of Protestant faith, its core belief is in the literal word of God set forth in the Bible. Included in this are the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, the second coming of Christ, the inerrancy of the Bible, the reality of heaven and hell, the biblical version of creation, and others Weir has outlined in what he refers to as his "doctrinal statement." Exhibit 13. Fundamentalist worship services are non-liturgical and Bible-centered. One belief held by Weir, which is apparently not universal to the fundamentalist movement and has some variation in meaning within it, is the concept of "separatism." This requires adherents to separate themselves from spiritual leaders whose teachings offend fundamentalist precepts. As Pastor Howarth testified, such persons are considered "evil" in the sense that they mislead people as to the truth. Accordingly, fundamentalist churches, said Howarth, do not cooperate with other churches.

There is some uncertainty in the evidence as to whether separatism also requires fundamentalists to separate from other Christians who do not share fundamentalists' beliefs. Chaplain Vande Krol testified that those who are separatists feel they should disassociate from other Christians who believe differently. In a 1992 memorandum, Vande Krol advised defendant Helling that some fundamentalists would consider the inclusive approach he takes to services as sinful. Exhibit C. However, Vande Krol has observed that Weir does not practice this form of separatism and is able to fellowship with persons of other beliefs. Moreover, Weir's own "doctrinal statement" mentions separation only in the context of separation from "false teaching," Exhibit 13, and in his testimony he described it as requiring withdrawal from those whose teachings depart from cardinal doctrine, not withdrawal from non-fundamentalists generally. Pastor Howarth testified a non-believer could participate in fundamentalist services, but could not be a leader. Separatism, therefore, as articulated and practiced by Weir does not appear to require him to refrain from worship, fellowship, or Bible study with members of other faiths. It does prevent him from attending a service led by a person whose message is significantly inconsistent with fundamentalist beliefs.¹

Protestant services at the penitentiary. Inmates in protective custody have the opportunity to attend Protestant or Catholic services in the prison chapel on Friday. Sunday is reserved for the three cellhouses in the general population, each one of which has services at a different time. Services are conducted by cellhouse so as to minimize the number of inmates allowed to gather at one time, a security consideration, and also because of the chapel's small size. Until about December 1993, the opportunity for group worship in the chapel was limited to one hour per week for all inmates. After a change in wardens, the new warden, Thomas Hundley,² increased the worship time from one hour per week to three and also allowed greater access to the prison by outside clergy and lay pastors.

Chaplain Vande Krol is a graduate of a Baptist seminary. He has been a prison chaplain at the penitentiary since November 1990. He is a fundamentalist, but does not teach separatism and he takes an inclusive approach in his services. The Protestant services he conducts feature singing, prayer, and a message. There is no indication that Vande Krol's message is offensive to fundamentalist beliefs in general, or as practiced by Weir. To the contrary, Chaplain Vande Krol's services tend to be fundamentalist. His ministry is generally given high marks by Weir, and the other fundamentalist inmates who testified. Inmate Thomas O'Connell testified Vande Krol is a good teacher. Inmate Michael Mitchell considers Vande Krol very sincere in reaching out to people. Weir testified that Chaplain Vande Krol is doctrinally satisfactory except on the issue of separatism. According to Weir a lot of Chaplain Vande Krol's message is really good. On occasion Vande Krol has asked Weir to...