He went and preached unto the spirits in prison : freedom of religion in American penal institutions (Episode 9 of 15)

The ninth in the 15-part series Bill of Rights Radio Education Project, co-sponsored by the Pacifica Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union, with major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This episode is on prisoner’s rights. Principal production by Amina Hassan; with associate producer Carol Jones; narrated by Brenda Wilson. Adi Gevins, executive producer; Marie Ritzo, associate producer; David Rapkin, project engineer.
|On box: Freedom of Religion in Prison. The Bill of Rights protects all citizens against government abuse of power in the matter of freedom of religion, of the press, of speech, and to a speedy and public trial. But what happens to these rights once a citizen is incarcerated in a state or federal prison? During the 1960s, Black Muslims were put in solitary confinement when found with clippings of their newspaper Mohammed Speaks, were forbidden to leave their jobs to pray, or were served pork meals. They maintained they were being discriminated against because of their religion and won many suits permitting them to practice their religion, including visits from their holy men, possession of religious materials, and serving of pork free meals. Are these rights being endangered now as the attitudes towards prisoners’ rights change? Produced by Amina Hassan.
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