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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 19461
[Civil]
Date Posted:
3/10/2008
8:33:17 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 8,269
RSS: 20,020
Comments: 20
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Judge Recommends Denial Of Inmate Request For Religious Items
Author: Josh Verges Source: Argus Leader
Title: JUDGE RECOMMENDS DENIAL OF INMATE REQUEST FOR RELIGIOUS ITEMS
A judge has recommended the dismissal of an inmate’s lawsuit that seeks to bring a plastic sword and other religious items into the South Dakota State Penitentiary.
Darrell Hoadley of Lead is serving a life sentence for his role in the 2000 torture killing of Chester Poage. He sued prison officials in February 2007, asking a judge to require items be allowed into the prison which would facilitate practicing the ancient pagan religion of Asatru.
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Community Thoughts: There are 20 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Plastic Sword For A Torture Murderer? | Mar 13th. at 5:48:27 pm EDT
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foreverknightfan (Dardanelle, Arkansas) - Email Me
Set aside the religious expression element, bear in mind WHY this guy is in prison.
He was convicted in the TORTURE MURDER of another person. Not exactly a victimless crime, is it?
And a plastic sword? Prison inmates make weapons out of anything they can find.
A number of Pagans settle for imagining their ceremonies in their heads, or use the first two fingers the same way that the athame is used. We use what we can. So should this guy. He forfeited his full ceremonial participation when he chose to kill horribly another person. He's in prison for a very good reason. He's a vicious criminal, a murderer.
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| Let Him Pay For It -out Of His Own Pocket. | Mar 13th. at 9:40:09 am EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
I see little reason to deny things to someone in prison,if it really is in his religion and he has been practicing awhile, however, it should be within practical reason. In prison, homemade weapons and drugs are a very big problem, and prisoners tend to try nuisance requests to push the envelope as far as they can, both to see what they can get, and to annoy the officials-- and waste taxpayer money.
Frankly, I wouldn't waste a Kentucky Derby last place loser on him- and I wouldn't send him a can of dogfood either.
If he has a supplier, fine, but it should come out of his own pocket and not taxpayer's money. After all, it is-- his religion. Let him fund it. If he can't, then he should do without like everyone else.
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| It A Prison! | Mar 12th. at 5:06:27 pm EDT
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Rutilus Draconis (Fair Haven, Michigan) - Email Me
None in prison should have these things. Using religion as an excuse for special foods or such is bull. There are protein compounds that are suitable for nutrition enough to keep these guys healthy. They're in there make them work and earn their keep not just sitting around watching tv or working out. If prisons actually punished maybe there would be fewer repeat offenders. I have no sympathy for this or any one else in prison they're there for a reason.
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| Even-handed | Mar 12th. at 4:30:08 pm EDT
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Baruch Dreamstalker (Oberlin, Ohio) - Email Me
I'm sure religious rights could be stripped from prisoners without offense to the Constitution, but it would have to be *all* religious rights. All the chaplaincy programs would have to be shut down, and Christian and Muslim groups within prisons would have to be denied any privileges (such as meeting places) they've been enjoying heretofore.
Propose that, and you'd hear the wardens and guard unions screaming from the rooftops that religious programs help keep offenders tractable and out of trouble.
But they can't leave Christian and Muslim rights intact and shut down all the others -- and that's the First Amendment issue behind this. So they have to go through the process of pondering this inmate's request for a plastic sword and an entree of horsemeat. From what I've read of Asatruer comment on this story I'd guess the requests are out of the practicing mainstream and can be rejected without violating anyone's rights. But they must be processed with respect.
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| Oh Please | Mar 12th. at 2:55:25 pm EDT
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Lady Amaranth (Sioux City, Iowa) - Email Me
I find it hilarious that any OTHER basic rights can be stripped of a person who happens to be in prison but that the right to his religion should not.
If he were a TRUE practitioner of ANY faith, he could simply visualize the ritual items, without having to actually have them there physcially.
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| Apparently, | Mar 12th. at 6:35:56 am EDT
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Eran Rathan (Old Town, Maine) - Email Me
this idiot forgot to read the Nine Charges, esp. the last:
-To maintain candour and fidelity in love and devotion to the tried friend: though he strike me I will do him no scathe.
-Never to make wrongsome oath: for great and grim is the reward for the breaking of plighted troth.
-To deal not hardly with the humble and the lowly.
-To remember the respect that is due to great age.
-To suffer no evil to go unremedied and to fight against the enemies of Faith, Folk and Family: my foes I will fight in the field, nor will I stay to be burnt in my house.
-To succour the friendless but to put no faith in the pledged word of a stranger people.
-If I hear the fool's word of a drunken man I will strive not: for many a grief and the very death groweth from out such things.
-To give kind heed to dead men: straw dead, sea dead or sword dead.
-To abide by the enactments of lawful authority and to bear with courage the decrees of the Norns.
Torturers deserve no leniency, no matter the situation. Let him suffer as his victims have.
Eran Rathan
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| Totally Rediculous!! | Mar 11th. at 4:26:09 pm EDT
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Yellowolf (Sandy, Utah) - Email Me
Having been an Asatru Gothi for over 8 years, and having been witness to a similar request by a prisoner in Utah State Prison recently, I have to say that this piece of garbage has NO right whatsoever to even practice Asatru - let alone ask for ritual items that could be used as or made into weapons!! I've ministered to inmates in Utah State Prison, and none of them were in for murder - we in the Asatru community heartily condemn ANY illegal activity - Murder would be the most heinous thing one could do against the Gods. I personally condemn his alleged belief in Asatru and do not recognize him as any sort of a real asatruar. And I've NEVER had horse meat at any sort of ritual - it stinks and tastes like S**T. This guy needs to be flogged daily - then maybe he will realize how the true Norse Gods stand on his behavior.
- -JYW -
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| They Have Let Him Have Some Things . . . | Mar 11th. at 1:52:34 pm EDT
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Shadowbear (Hillsboro, Oregon) - Email Me
that would appear to be weapons in themselves - a drinking horn is made from a weapon and could surely be used as one while separated from the animal - and I could do quite a bit of damage with a wooden mallet - unless it is only an inch or two long, then I would have to work at it a bit.
The plastic sword is just childish - and the request for horse meat could be accomodated if he has a supplier and the money for it - I don't approve of having the prison BUY him anything for his religion. How come nobody ever wants lutefisk or pickled herrings for their religious practices? They are much more traditional - and probably cheaper as well.
This is prison, maybe they could say lutefisk is a requirement for being a heathen. Apologies to any who love lutefisk (I probably can't spell it either) My husband keeps singing songs about "catch a pickled herring, put it on the table, eat it before it rots away" - he is a Norwegian and knows these things but follows the red road because he prefers salmon with blueberries.
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| Rehabilitation | Mar 11th. at 1:49:07 pm EDT
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Baruch Dreamstalker (Oberlin, Ohio) - Email Me
Let us not forget the theory that access to religion and its physical materials helps to rehabilitate inmates. Of course, the purveyors of this theory mean *Chrtistian* religion, but what's good for one is good for all under the First Amendment.
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| Somehow, | Mar 11th. at 11:55:50 am EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
I think this may be getting a little out of hand.
A plastic sword, depending upon its make could be fashioned into a real weapon.
As for the horsemeat, if he has eaten it before, that is one thing, but if this is because he believes it is part of a ritual, I'd say no, unless he can find a supplier willing to send it to him.
Surely, he can make substitutions to his rituals, as others have to in certain circumstances.
Prison is a place of punishment. Not a country club. Sometimes this sort of thing is often used to push the envelope to see just how far he can go into getting what he wants.
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| Yep, Horsemeat | Mar 11th. at 10:50:01 am EDT
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Lady-hearted Mojo (Irving, Texas) - Email Me
Horsemeat is considered a delicacy in part of Europe and Asia. It must also be included in the Scanadinavian Shmorgasboard if it is to be a traditional Shmorgasbroad. Without horsemeat the Shrmorgasboard is just another buffet service.
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| No Offence | Mar 11th. at 10:39:08 am EDT
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Sy (Atlanta, Georgia) - Email Me
To any Asatru out there, but horse meat? ...ewww.
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| The Tools With Which We Build... | Mar 11th. at 7:39:15 am EDT
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ZenKat (Las Vegas, Kentucky) - Email Me
Admittedly, the prisoner in question does have a few requests that are- to say the least- not withstanding of common sense.
If there is to be ANY true religious 'serenity', then it should be found without the usage of tools... period. Some (not all) Pagan paths try to encourage at least one form of 'ritual' without any items at all- in order to assist the focus of inner spiritualism and achieve a deeper meditation.
The plastic sword- in my own opinion- is just an attachment to the habits that had gotten him arrested in the first place. Granted, swords are used during rituals... but they are not an absolute.
The horse meat... I'm only making a guess here, but when the Vikings and Celts were at war with each other and battling amongst themselves- horse meat was used when all other sources were exhausted.
I think, just maybe, that the prison is giving him quite enough 'meat' to consume... and honestly, if he wished to offer any to the gods- leave a few bites as an offering before eating.
My ex-husband had tried practicing Asatru for a while- then he decided to follow the Odin/Nordic path and sought out the ministrations of Thor. So, really, any tools of the "Germanic Path" are what seem to be the most meaningful to the practitioner.
If he was really that honest with himself- he would consider himself as a tool of ritual and divinity... and pray to the gods using just himself... which- by all accounts- is one of the many idealisms of the Lord and Lady creating us in the first place. ;-)
Blessings,
ZenKat
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| He's Already Gotten Enough | Mar 11th. at 7:14:29 am EDT
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Young Coyote (W. Hempstead, California) - Email Me
The guy was already allowed to have a drinking horn, a wooden hammer (for real?!) , and some other item that I forgot.
As far as I'm concerned, the man has gotten enough to practice Asatru.
The only item out of the bunch that I would consider necessary for Heathenry is the drinking horn, as it's used to toast the gods/make boasts etc.
A plastic sword? Please. And horse meat? WTF??
I've always been curious about Asatru in prisons. It's not a religion that teaches one to go aganist society. If anything, Asatru teaches you to follow within the guidelines of the law, as to fall out of them causes disorder in the community.
I wonder if he was Asatru going into prison or if he converted while there. If it's the latter, I wouldn't be surprised if he's just using it as an excuse to get some mock weapons.
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| No Tools Needed | Mar 11th. at 4:12:20 am EDT
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Lori Dake (Chicago, Illinois) - Email Me - Web
I can see requesting books, but a cheezy plastic sword? Give me a break! And for a torture killer, no less? For a guy like that, the image of a weapon in any form probably gets him off, and that's the last luxury he should be having!
I don't care what religion a person follows, be it a mainstream or minority - no statuary or tools are ever technically *required* for worship. It is highly desired, yes, especially when said religion is of the more stylized and ritualistic variety, but never is it demanded or required. In fact, scaling down to the bare bones of one's chosen faith can be a very liberating and rewarding experience.
What this guy might consider doing is using his time to take up painting or something, so he can express himself and his faith in a different way. Even John Wayne Gacy was allowed to pick up a paint brush and envelop himself in creepy clowns.
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