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Troublesh00ter's avatar

Right off the top ... West Virginia, eh? Of course, I could also have said, Tennessee or Mississippi or Alabama and it still would have tracked.

Seriously, it seems as though a great number of states in the Deep South need to understand that it is NOT within their purview to push religion on those entrusted to their care, as was the case with Miller. Sadly, this brand of religious rehabilitation / indoctrination is the default and the go-to too often and not just in southern states. Because many state officials can't be bothered to think in State / Church separation terms, people like Miller end up having to go through the wringer in order to have their rights, and particularly their right of freedom FROM religion, recognized and acted on.

For the sake of EVERY non-Christian who is incarcerated, this lesson needs to be broadcast to all 50 states and American territories ... because it's clear that the message has yet to fully get through.

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Richard S. Russell's avatar

I doubt that many people go into penology because they're constitutional scholars. When I was in the Wisconsin State Employees Union, I was struck by the difference between some of my fellow delegates from the Protective Services bargaining unit. The state-patrol officers were the nicest people, apparently having taken to heart the precept that they're out on the roads to help people (those involved with car crashes, flat tires, directing traffic after ball games, getting drunks off the road, etc.), but the prison guards were just mean as hell and had very limited appreciation of the concepts of dialog and compromise.

I suppose they got into that line of work for the same reason that pederasts are attracted to the priesthood: because it's where they get to exercise their basest instincts with a stamp of approval.

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