Satanist inmate sues county

A Satanic prisoner being held in Montana is suing the county of his incarceration for not allowing him to practice his religion or allowing him access to his religious materials. He has also been harassed by the authorities regarding his beliefs and claims to have been put in situations where violence against him by other prisoners was expected.

www.billingsgazette.net...

Yes, I know the guy is a Satanist and that fact is probably very upsetting to many. Keep in mind it is an actual religion with a history and methods of worship and is not some hocus pocus he made up.

Does the county have valid reason to keep him from his religion? I understand the medallion being taken. From what I hear jewelry is not allowed while being incarcerated, including religous symbols.

What ground or reasoning does the county have to justify this?

Honestly, they have absolutely none. But its Montana (no offense to any and all out there from Montana...I've been its so ridiculously beautiful) and Montana folk ain't gonna take kindly to no Devil-woshippers...if you know what I mean.
They have absolutely no right under any circumstance whatsoever to keep him from his religious materials. If I were a lawyer I would totally take this case pro bono.

Originally posted by slicobacon
Does the county have valid reason to keep him from his religion?

Yup.

What ground or reasoning does the county have to justify this?

He's a prisoner and I'd say he lost his right to worship Satan. Now that prison is his 'new home', he must abide to the rules. Jewelry can a dangerous weapon. No amount of material 'tools' could possibly protect him from himself. Look where it landed him - in jail!

Originally posted by pikypiky
He's a prisoner and I'd say he lost his right to worship Satan. Now that prison is his 'new home', he must abide to the rules.

Total BS, when they hand out bibles in jail for free.

I'd say he has a much better case on the denial of medical care, but oh well.

Sorry even though this guy is a satanist, he does deserve to worship as he sees fit.

They have regular christian church services in prison. There is no reason that they should deny him his right to freedom of religion.

The county is a government entity... Counties, Cities, States, the Federal... all must abide by the constitution, and the bill of rights...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;* or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

*emphasis mine

Seems pretty cut and dry to me... I predict a long drawn out court battle... than I'm thinking some prison officials and county officials will be losing their jobs over this one.

Give him back his book if books are allowed (unless it has some forbidden pics in it or something).

Other than that what is he being denied? A freeking service?

He can "pray" in his cell all he wants? He can't wear some ceremonial garb.. awwww what a pity. He is getting picked on... well he is in jail, they do that.


Just another BS lawsuit.

If he wants to worship satan then let him! Also, he could be tortured and live a living hell in jail(raped, whipped etc.) Because that what satan would want!

Lol.

This "satanist" is a Theological Satanist, or a LaVeyan Satanist. Which isn't about devil worship, and is about as "out there" as a Wiccan.

As an atheist, surrounded by religion, but having an open mind I can honestly say he deserves the right to practice whatever religion he chooses. My question is, as a satanist, if he doesn't practice his religious rituals or whatnot on a regular basis, will he be banished to heaven?

If he's a convicted felon then he has lost his freedoms, simply put. Civil liberties do not apply to him anymore. When the bill of rights was written it was not meant to apply to felons. Back then, they didn't consider felons people, let alone citizens anymore. Felons were executed with no questions asked.


If he's just staying in jail on a misdemeanor charge then the bill of rights and freedom of religion should still apply to him. No, he cannot have items in prison with him that could obviously be used as a weapon, just because they are 'religious items', but they can not deny him from practicing his religion.



[edit on 22-2-2009 by ProfessorRusso]

Originally posted by eNumbra
Lol.

This "satanist" is a Theological Satanist, or a LaVeyan Satanist. Which isn't about devil worship, and is about as "out there" as a Wiccan.

That's a load of ...

I hear that all the time, from Satanists. "Ohh, no we don't worship satan, we are like wiccans and worship the elements and stuff dude!"

Uhh no, sorry, if you didn't worship satan and were wiccans, you would call yourself wiccans, not SATANISTS.


[edit on 22-2-2009 by ProfessorRusso]

reply to post by ProfessorRusso


See now, that shouldn't be. A felon in the United States is still an American citizen. And the point still stands that they hand out bibles freely in jails and prisons, but he's not allowed to practice his religion?

Originally posted by Mekanic
reply to post by ProfessorRusso

 

See now, that shouldn't be. A felon in the United States is still an American citizen. And the point still stands that they hand out bibles freely in jails and prisons, but he's not allowed to practice his religion?

Yes that's not how it is today. I was stating that is how it was when the bill of rights and constitution were written. Back then, anyone convicted of a felony was executed, no questions asked. They were not considered citizens nor people any more. There was no prison term for felonies back then, it was always execution. They removed you from society. By death.

So it's important to understand, that based on those circumstances, that when the bill of rights and constitution were written, clearly the authors did not intend it to apply to felons. Since felons would be put to death any way.



But today we have become lax, and no longer put all felons to death, some of them just give them light prison sentences and release them back into society. So the politicians, lawmakers, justicies, etc have perverted the constitution and bill of rights to apply to felons too, even though it was not supposed to originally.


So yes, to answer your question, these days felons DO have rights, but they are not technically supposed to.

What the problem is, is that justices today interpret the constitution based on how society is today, not how society was when the document was actually written.




[edit on 22-2-2009 by ProfessorRusso]

Originally posted by ProfessorRusso
That's a load of ...

I hear that all the time, from Satanists. "Ohh, no we don't worship satan, we are like wiccans and worship the elements and stuff dude!"

Uhh no, sorry, if you didn't worship satan and were wiccans, you would call yourself wiccans, not SATANISTS.
[edit on 22-2-2009 by ProfessorRusso]

I own, and have read both the "Satanic Bible" and it's companion the "Satanic Rituals"

LaVey called it Satanism simply to piss off Christians. So... yeah, apparently he hit his mark.

[edit on 2/22/2009 by eNumbra]

sounds like he has a case and i hope he wins it.

hypocrisy and double standards should not be tolerated.

Maybe some of the tools should be denied. Here is a list of some of what they use: candle and a baphomet, bell, silver chalice, gong, sword, elixir (usually wine), phallus, and parchment.

If he is paying, let him have the parchment, the rest he should be denied.

I see no problem with denying him the right to practice his religion.

As long as the restriction is applied to all religions.

Otherwise, the system is biased and therefore corrupt.

Ummmm.... one question... How exactly is he being kept from worshiping satan? Does he have to sacrifice children or animals? Could saying the"F" word the entire day suffice? Living a life of sin is what got him in there in the first place. I'm sure. Religion is so messed up. I say prohibit all religion from prison, prisoners are there to serve out their punishment.... not find comfort in religion.

They should not encourage these types anymore... the economy is way too damaged to take foolish criminals serious. They live better than many war veterans.... What more do they want?

[edit on 2/26/2009 by 3vilscript]

He most definatly has a case, and I too hope he wins. Religon should be available to all or none. It's not the definition of a particular religous faction that should govern it's availablity. Muslims still get to practice eh? Satanist are people too

It's off topic but, Enumbra has it right. Educate yourself or don't comment - it's off topic anyway. Start a new thread about the definition of Satanism.