Donald Cape’s constitutional right to practice his religion behind bars was not violated while he was an inmate at the Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby, the Montana Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
The unanimous five-judge panel, ruling in Cape v. Crossroads Correctional Center, rejected Cape’s claims that the prison failed to provide him with “religious meals” during Lent and prevented him from engaging in certain religious activities.
Contrary to Cape’s assertions, the court said, the Roman Catholic Church does not require its members to eat certain foods on particular days and the prison did make a priest, Mass and sacraments available to Cape and other Catholic prisoners.
Cape, serving 15 years for aggravated assault out of Gallatin County, had sued the prison and its food service contractor in February 2001 for refusing to allow him to eat fish and unleavened bread on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lent.
He also alleged the prison denied him access to a priest and religious materials, and refused his requests to hold group prayer or Bible studies. The result was a denial of his freedom of religion, Cape said.
The Supreme Court upheld District Judge Marc Buyske’s decision to throw out the suit, although it disagreed with part of his reasoning. Buyske had tossed the nonfood claims, saying they were moot because Cape had since been transferred from the Shelby prison to one in Great Falls.
The high court said the matter still had to be settled, because Cape faces a long sentence and someday could be sent back to Crossroads.
The question of religious meals was baseless because the Rev. Herbert Pins, Catholic chaplain at Montana State Prison, testified that the Catholic faith teaches only abstinence of certain food — such as red meat — on particular days in Lent, the court said.
Pins said the Catholic Church does not mandate that the faithful eat fish and unleavened bread on those days, noted Justice James Nelson in writing for the court.
He said Crossroads, the same month Cape filed his lawsuit, began providing meatless meals to Catholic inmates during Lent.
The court also said the prison policy of giving Catholic inmates access to a priest, Mass, communion and confession showed no violation of religious freedom.
Crossroad’s policy of requiring an outside religious volunteer be present before allowing religious meetings is proper because it serves a valid purpose of preventing gang meetings or gatherings for other improper purposes, the court said.