Oregon —

FFRF worked to ensure that inmates in the Inmate Veterans Associate (IVA) at the Snake River Correctional Institute (SRCI) would not be exposed to unwanted prayer by other inmates after religious chaplains attempted to intrude.

FFRF’s complainant reported that an inmate instructed another inmate to begin a recent IVA meeting with prayer, which was explicitly Christian. SRCI staff appeared to be involved, at least to some extent, in organizing and facilitating the IVA meetings. This event was noted to be a departure from the previous practice of permitting the SRCI chaplain to begin meetings with prayer. FFRF’s complainant expressed concern that IVA leadership within SCRI appeared to be looking for loopholes to begin IVA meetings with Christian prayer even if the facility’s chaplain was no longer leading them.

“While SRCI’s chaplain is no longer leading the prayers, it is still concerning that SRCI’s personnel are reportedly allowing IVA’s leaders to find new ways to insert prayer into IVA meetings, even though all IVA members are not Christians and not religious,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote.

Shanon Vincent, a representative of the Oregon Department of Justice, informed FFRF that she had learned of the prayers led by inmates at IVA due to FFRF’s work. “[The correctional facility] has issued a directive to SRCI’s IVA, instructing the group to stop including prayers at its meeting,” Vincent wrote.

The post FFRF ensured that inmates in the Inmate Veterans Associate (IVA) at the Snake River Correctional Institute (SRCI) would not be exposed to unwanted prayer (August 2025) appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.