Bibles Confiscated from Sarasota County Jail Inmates

[Media]

Sarasota County’s jail inmates had their Bibles confiscated and replaced with free e-books. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office says that since paper Bibles were taken away and replaced with tablets:

• There has been an 80 percent reduction in inmate-on-inmate battery
• There hasn’t been a suicide attempt.
• Inmates are more in touch with the outside world and can make phone calls anytime

Dr. Hugh Burn’s, a jail chaplain and a retired teacher of 56 years, 15 of which took place at Suncoast Polytechnical High School, said that it deprives some inmates of the ability to practice their religion because most of them struggle to use the e-book Bible program because it is often slow loading and it cuts out lines of Bible texts.

Burn’s said that taking away Bibles and issuing e-books “looks like a good thing [on the surface],” except that they’re unusable because he works with inmates, teaching them to calm down, but by taking Bibles away and putting a machine in front of them, it frustrates them.

The tablets are loaned to the county for free by Global Tel Link, which makes money from inmate purchases on the devices, such as making phone calls, watching movies and playing games.

Global Tel (YouTube advertisement):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=_22FMqP8lQs

Global Tel:
http://www.gtl.net/contact-us/



Dr. Hugh Burn’s (above) author of:
-It's Not My Fault: A Parent's Guide to Teenagers and Drugs
-Black is Me, An anthology of African American Literature
-Parents, Do you Know Where Your Kids Are? (Kiwanis outreach)

Full story:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20...tronic-tablets

[Unregistered]

In the short run, Knight will be able to get away with confiscating Bibles, but in the long run, it won't stand up in court. It is not surprising that Knight would fight that kind of litigious battle. Knight fought the chief judge about courtroom security (and lost) and now Knight is seizing Bibles from inmates. Knight will lose, eventually (long term). It's crazy. This is not Nazi Germany. Or is it?

[Unregistered]

In the short run, Knight will be able to get away with confiscating Bibles, but in the long run, it won't stand up in court. It is not surprising that Knight would fight that kind of litigious battle. Knight fought the chief judge about courtroom security (and lost) and now Knight is seizing Bibles from inmates. Knight will lose, eventually (long term). It's crazy. This is not Nazi Germany. Or is it?

eBooks on a tablet is a proven concept and is free to use. Dr. Burn's claim that there exists a technological barrier is a non sequitur because there is no deprivation any moreso than an inability to read a physical book is a deprivation.

[Unregistered]

Is there anything that knight does that isn't about money? Anything? Please one person tell me one thing. This is just another scheme he has with some business to help them make money using our jail. Inmates can buy movies? What else? Order a pizza? It is Jail!

[Unregistered]

Dr. Burn's claim is a non sequitur.

Kurt, Knight is going to be another "test case" to prove you wrong. You led Knight down the last legal fiasco, where the appellate court sustained the chief judge’s decision against Knight. And now you are prepared to lead Knight down another litigation-fiasco in the forcible confiscation of Bibles from inmates. And now inmates are PROHIBITED from possessing Bibles. You will lose, unless you back down – and if it goes to court, then it will be ANOTHER waste of taxpayers’ dollars in needless litigation. And you have the audacity to say that the confiscation and removal of Bibles has led to a reduction in violence and crime in the jail. It’s madness.

[Unregistered]

I am not sure is any of the staff go to church so having a bible might not be important to them, but as a man who has lost everything a bible might be your only saving grace. By removing bibles you are now going against God himself and I am sure he is watching closely. I bet Knight thinks he can beat God too. Good luck with that.

[Unregistered]

Sarasota County’s jail inmates had their Bibles confiscated and replaced with free e-books. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office says that since paper Bibles were taken away and replaced with tablets:

• There has been an 80 percent reduction in inmate-on-inmate battery
• There hasn’t been a suicide attempt.
• Inmates are more in touch with the outside world and can make phone calls anytime

So being in possession of a Bible in the Sarasota Sheriff's jail is now an arrestable offense? It would be interesting to see if the prosecutor would even touch an Orwellian stink-bomb-case like that!!!

[Media]

Courts have concluded that officials may limit the amount of reading material that a prisoner keeps in his cell, but prisoners generally have a right to read the primary text of their faith tradition. See e.g., Sutton v. Rasheed, 323 F.3d 236, 250-58 (3d Cir. 2003); Jesus Christ Prison Ministry v. California Dep’t of Corrections, 456 F. Supp. 2d 1188, 1201-02 (E.D. Cal. 2006) (policy barring prisoners from receiving religious books from organizations not on approved vendor list is unconstitutional).

ACLU Article:
https://www.aclu.org/know-your-right...eligion-prison

The DOJ Civil Rights Division announced that it had entered a consent injunction resolving its lawsuit against a sheriff's Office (Berkeley County Sheriff in South Carolina) over its denial of religious materials to prisoners incarcerated in the county's jail. The DOJ filed suit in a federal court. The consent injunction will ensure that prisoners have access to religious materials.

The suit was prompted by the Berkeley County Detention Center's policy of prohibiting detainees from receiving religious texts or other expressive materials through the mail. The First Amendment protects the right of detainees and prisoners to receive a reasonable amount of expressive material. RLUIPA protects the religious freedom of prisoners by barring policies and actions that impose a substantial burden on their religious exercise, unless the detention facility can show that its policy or action is narrowly tailored to support a compelling interest.

DOJ Article:
https://www.justice.gov/crt/prisoner...ng-doj-lawsuit

[Unregistered]

If the inmate has the tablet, and the religious material is on the tablet, then no deprivation exists.

I get that it's a hate-fest up in here for your sheriff, but you guys are barking up the wrong tree on this one.

[Unregistered]

Try telling that to your Grandma. To many inmates this is a tangible piece of their life.