Thu, Jun 23, 2011 by admin.

Go to this facebook page and let Patrick know what you think he should do next. He is asking the Pagan Community what we think he should do.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113107475446927

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Thu, Jun 23, 2011 by admin.

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http://www.patrickmccollum.org/

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Thu, Jun 23, 2011 by admin.

Rev. McCollum has less than 24 hours to make a decision regarding his case. This was on The Wild Hunt Blog 

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2011/06/patrick-mccollum-qa-at-psg-2011.html#disqus_thread

Listen to/download the audio here. 

Here’s the initial write-up of the press conference from PNC reporter Cara Schulz: 

McCollum calls press conference to clear up misconceptions in Pagan prisoner rights case. Alleges state admitted to perjury, destroyed key documents. Systemic discrimination. Says states are moving to end chaplain programs and replace with privately funded Evangelical chaplains. McCollum must decide next step in legal battle withing the day, asks community for input. 

Monday night, Pagan minister and civil rights activist Patrick McCollum called a press conference at the 2011 Pagan Spirit Gathering. McCollum discussed the recent 9th Circuit Court ruling in the Patrick M. McCollum; et al., v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; et al. case. McCollum called the presser to clear up what he saw as misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the case in the mainstream media and in the Pagan community. He also said that the Pagan community needs to know how this case affects Pagans across the country, both inside and outside the prison system. 

McCollum stated since this is a federal case, it affects how the government interacts with minority faiths far beyond the borders of California. Likewise, the nature of the case doesn’t limit it to only the prison system. It is applicable to all federal agencies. McCollum said if the Pagan community understood how the ruling could be applied and that it does affect them, they would mobilize similar to the VA Pentacle Quest. 

McCollum said this action by the correctional department was part of a larger movement by fundamentalist Christians to use governmental institutions to pressure persons to convert to aggressively proselytize, such as was seen in the Air Force Academy in the USA. Aggressive, and sometimes violent, proselytizing is also being carried on by some Evangelical groups in places like Haiti, India, and in Africa. He outlined how the California correctional system officials heavily discriminated against McCollum and Pagan inmates over a period of years while pressing him to file a lawsuit. Prison systems in three other states have since cited court costs associated with minority religion discrimination cases, such as the one McCollum filed, as a reason to end the state run chaplain program. The prison systems then allow private religious 501c3s to bid on administering a private chaplain program and the groups selected pay all costs. McCollum says that Pagans shouldn’t be surprised that the winners of these bids are mainly Evangelical Christian groups. 

McCollum listed how prison officials had admitted to perjury, shredded thousands of inmate grievance filings, and how the court had continued to use the perjured testimony as a basis for its ruling. He also noted that the headlines stating he lost a ruling based on standing is incorrect. The case was started as a class action lawsuit involving prison inmates, but that portion of the case was thrown out. 

Towards the end of the press conference McCollum said that he had a decision to make regarding the case. If McCollum decided to continue fighting this in court, it could be 8 or more years before there is a final resolution. He has already been involved in this case for over seven years. He said it is very emotionally and financially draining to fight a legal battle of this magnitude, but he has done so because it’s the right thing to do. He laid out his options as he sees them. He could push this fight through and seek to eventually end up in the Supreme Court. He noted that SCOTUS hears very few cases each year and the likelihood of the court taking this case is small. He could seek a settlement with the state of California. Or he could drop the case and fight it in the public arena similar to the pentacle Quest. For any of these options he would need the support of the entire Pagan community. It is for this reason that McCollum is seeking to hear from the community on what they feel he should do – continue in the courts or drop the case and use social pressure to affect change. He asks that Pagans comment quickly as he was given a shortened time frame to decide. He has less than 24 hours from the time of this publication. 

Another PSG media camp member, Iris Firemoon from PNC-Washington D.C., has posted a Facebook event to ask for community feedback on what move Patrick should take in this struggle. 

We’ll post further updates as we know more. My thanks to Star Foster for recording and getting this audio to me. 

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Thu, Jun 23, 2011 by admin.

By Rev. Eric Roberts 

Recently, there was an Appellate Court decision supporting the dismissal of the charges levied against the California Department of Corrections and various individuals involved. My first reaction was, no big shock… they are ruling against a Wiccan minister… this is discrimination *breaking out swords and axes and readying for war…* Then I looked at the brief published by the court… The only thing that I can say I disagree with is the charge of Retaliation and the Employment claims. The person who made the claim had to know that it was a false claim… granted, the time between the initial filing and the accusation was 18 months, still… someone isn’t going to make a false claim for the Hel of it. Smells a bit fishy to me. I also did not understand the court’s logic on why Title VII prohibition based on religion did not apply. The converse of that would be that it is also prohibited to not be hired because of religion… aka, I am not going to hire you because you are Wiccan. According to the district court: “McCollum cannot reasonably dispute that to require one to be a Roman Catholic accredited priest in order to, for example, provide communion to Catholic inmates, is a BFOQ.” BFOQ is a Bona Fide Occupational Qualification. While I would agree with that statement, wouldn’t the same apply to Wiccan inmates? Would any of the other Chaplains be able to reasonably minister to Wiccan or anyone else outside of their faith? Would we even be going through all this if Rev. McCollum was Catholic or Jewish? As far as the other charges, I agree with the court’s decision. There isn’t a great need for a Wiccan Chaplain (see below). Keep in mind that this was for a paid position with California Corrections Chaplaincy. There didn’t seem to be any discrimination against Rev. McCollum. He was allowed to see inmates alone. There was a potential case of an inmate not being allowed access to a Pagan minister, but that could not be included in this as Rev. McCollum was not harmed by that… that would be something the inmate would have to file suit on.  Here are the criteria that the CDC uses for assessing the need of a paid chaplain: (1) liturgical needs, (2) the numbers of the group, (3) existing and alternative accommodation means, (4) security, (5) cost, and (6) other practical factors related to institutional operational needs. 1. Liturgical need. Are there members of a given faith that need to be ministered to? 2. The numbers of the group. Are there sufficient numbers to justify hiring a chaplain of their faith? 3. Existing and alternative accommodation means. Are they being provided with a place to worship? Are the current Chaplains or volunteer Chaplains sufficiently meeting their needs? 4. Security. Can they practice their faith while maintaining the safety and security of themselves, other inmates, and prison guards and officials? 5. Cost. Can we not only show the need to hire a chaplain… but can we afford to do so and is it cost effective? 6. Practical Factors related to institutional operational needs. On number 1, yes, there are Pagans in the California Corrections system, so that criterion is met. Number 2… Are there sufficient numbers? I would say no… especially when compared to the numbers of other faiths. As of September 2007, an inmate survey indicated that there were 42,666 Protestant inmates, 28,884 Muslim inmates, 23,160 Catholic inmates, 8,296 North American Indian inmates, 3,296 Jewish inmates, 2,678 inmates who listed “other”, and 183 Wiccan inmates. One does have to wonder how many of the folks in the other category are really Pagan/Heathen and just keeping quiet about their faith and how many are atheists. This does show, though, that there isn’t a real need to hire someone… 183 is a very small percentage of the total, so I can see where they are coming from. If there were 500-1000 Wiccans… then there may be a need. Number 3… They have (or had) at least one Wiccan Chaplain (albeit a volunteer)… the ruling or other articles I read did not mention if there were other Pagan/Heathen volunteer Chaplains that were meeting the needs of Pagan/Heathen inmates, so this is hard to judge without seeing the whole picture. Number 4… Yes… but I would assume that means no athames, wands, glassware, etc. that can be used or manufactured into a weapon. I do believe they allow some candles and incense under certain conditions. Number 5. This relates to number 2… so I would say no… the costs do not justify the given demand. I could see a part time position maybe… but I can see why the state would not want to hire him to minister to 183 people across the prison system. I don’t believe there was anything listed for number 6. The big thing the court denied was that Rev. McCollum’s standing to file suit. Since there didn’t seem to be any harm done to him other than possible employment discrimination (a separate issue), he could not file suit claiming that it violated inmates’ rights. The inmates would have to file suit. Makes sense to me. I think if he wanted to make a claim that the “Five Faiths” policy of the CDC is discriminatory, he would have to make the case that, while otherwise qualified for that Chaplains program, the only thing preventing him from obtaining a position if there was one available, is solely based on his faith. According to employee rights laws, one doesn’t have to prove that one would actually be hired, just that you are qualified but not getting hired because of race, religion, creed, sex, etc…. This is something I think he could win.  CDC should not be arbitrarily limiting the paid positions to just the five faiths (Christian, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, and North American Indian), even if the numbers only show that there is a need for a paid position for those five. Even the court admitted that “his injury was clear” because he was not allowed to state his case against the program as well as not even being allowed to apply for the position. I think where the Reverend messed up was that he did not state clear cut cases of discrimination or show any concrete evidence that he was treated any differently as a volunteer than other volunteer chaplains of other faiths. If he was able to show that he was denied access to inmates or restricted from doing things that other volunteer chaplains were allowed to do… and showed clear and concrete examples of this… he would have a pretty strong case. I think Rev. McCollum’s best bet would be to go after an employment discrimination claim to try and get the CDC “Five Faiths” policy shot down as unconstitutional. While this policy evolved over time to just having these five faiths having chaplaincies, it does need to be more flexible to allow for changing demographics. What if the Jewish population dropped to a very low level, does the Rabbi lose his chaplaincy? Or does he keep it because he is already in, even though there isn’t sufficient numbers involved to justify a paid position? These are the questions that need to be asked. I just don’t see discrimination as a motivation in this case. I think the CDC made a business decision and that is it. Rev. Eric Roberts

Rev. Roberts has been practicing various forms of Paganism (Wicca, Druidism, Asatru, Romuva, Shamanism, and Kabbalism,) since the mid 1980’s and served as High Priest for Temple of the Sacred Craft in West Suburban Chicago for 10 years.

He has also served as webmaster for several Pagan rights groups over the years and has been a Pagan rights and free speech activist for almost 20 years. He is a small business owner and has been doing web development for the past 13 years.

Rev. Roberts is also a disabled Veteran, having served as an Army Combat Medical Specialist and served in Operation Nimrod Dancer/Just Cause in the Panama Canal Zone. He is married and has 2 daughters, 2 cats, and a dog named Thor.

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