A Jailhouse Conversion
- September/October 2003
- September 1, 2003
Illustrations by Sally Wern Comport One of the primary purposes of incarceration is the reform and eventual rehabilitation of prisoners.1 Despite this goal, recidivism is common, and prisons are often the breeding grounds of criminal conspiracies. Yet not all those released from prison return to a life of crime. For many, prison time provides the
READ MOREThe understanding that the freedom of religion clause in the First Amendment was intended to erect "a wall of separation between church and state" is rapidly becoming pass̩ and is already regarded by many with actual hostility. This wall view was espoused in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury, Connecticut, Baptist Association in
READ MOREIllustrations by Scott Roberts During President Reagan's first term the Christian Coalition's predecessor, the Moral Majority, expended great effort to, in effect, amend the First Amendment. With the support of a popular president they almost succeeded. But for the efforts of U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker of Cohile standing for reelection in 1984, courageously led an
READ MOREMinersville School District v. Gobitis In 1940, 14 years before Congress added the phrase "under God" to the Pledge. A school district in Pennsylvania said that students had to recite the Pledge. The Supreme Court said it was OK for the school district to expel students who didn't. A brother and sister—Jehovah's Witnesses—were expelled from
READ MOREPrison was not a new experience for Michael Potts. This was his third time behind bars. Like the overwhelming majority of prisoners, Michael was caught in a revolving door. Prison did nothing to prepare him for life on the outside, and so, given the opportunity, he kept falling back into criminal activity. But Michael decided
READ MOREIllustrations by Mick Wiggins Remember last June? For some a time of infamy. For others a brave judicial finding. Three judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance endorses a religious belief; that when the U.S. Congress added the phrase to
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