Mark Janny is a Colorado prisoner whose First Amendment rights to religious freedom were infringed upon when he was returned to prison for refusing to attend Bible studies, worship sessions, and religious counseling that his parole officer had required of him. Janny was imprisoned in November of 2023 for declining to take part in religious activities related to a faith he does not practice and his parole officer mandated that while still on parole, he remain at the Denver Rescue Mission which is in Fort Collins, Colorado. Mark told the administrators of this group called “The Rescue Mission” as well as his parole officer that he’s an atheist and that he did not agree with the organization's Christian beliefs, and therefore wanted no part. Both the director of the Rescue Mission and Mark's parole officer threatened to have him put back jail and reincarcerated if not to take part in the religious activities. The managers of the Rescue Mission eventually went so far as to kick Mark out of the institution when he refused to go to church, and this led to an additional 150 days of being detained after his parole officer deemed this to be a parole violation.
Mark ended up suing his parole officer and the Rescue Mission's owners in a federal district court for violating his right to freedom of religion. He initially appeared in district court without any actual legal representation, and the court denied him, and disregarded the evidence that he’d brought forth. In response to the district court's wrongful dismissal of his lawsuit, groups like DLA Piper, Americans United, and the ACLU intervened to take up his appeal, and stepped to his defense, arguing that his free exercise has been transgressed upon.
The Director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, made a public statement that “throwing someone in jail for refusing to go to church just tramples our nation’s commitment to religious liberty and is flagrantly unconstitutional.” The dissenting Judge, Judge Carson, objected to the assertion that the mission's director, Jim. Carmack could be considered a state actor for simply upholding program regulations. He did concede however that Mr. Carmack lacked the authority to send Mr. Janny back to jail, and regarded the action as extreme. According to Judge Carson's reasoning, all parolees would need an “address upon release,” and the parole officer John Gamez had an informal arrangement with the Rescue Mission to house certain parolees, but the arrangement didn't modify any existing policies or transfer authority to the parole officer Mr. Carmack.
Eventually a settlement was reached in the beginning of 2022 with the previous director of the Rescue Mission, in which Mark received damages and the petition for review was removed. And as of December 2023, Mark's case against the parole officer is actually still pending, but he fought the parole officer's “partial summary judgment motion” in May of 2023 after it was filed that March, and attempted to restrict or one could even argue completely remove Mark's right to receive compensatory damages. In a decision on this specific motion, the court decided on November 14, 2023, to allow Mark Janny to seek significant damages and that he might even receive “minimal damages, compensatory damages for his loss of liberty, economic damages for his salary loss during part of his incarceration, and punitive damages.”
I agreed with the outcome of this case, and I think it's yet another good example of the success of the American justice system. Mark's parole officer engaged in threats and coercion in order to get him to embrace something that he has no obligation to take seriously, legally or morally. The constitution does not allow Mr. Janny's Parole Officer to do what he did to him, and if Mark doesn't want to put up with christian counseling, he is hardly the only person in this country to harbor that instinct, and he reserves the right to manifest that instinct in his own life.
Links: https://www.au.org/the-latest/press/colorado-court-victory-mark-janny-jailed-parole/
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/aug/9/parole-cant-be-revoked-refusing-faith-based-rehab-/\\\
7 comments:
Great post and I totally agree with your analysis of this case. It is interesting how this case dealt with a prisoner, as even in prison the plaintiff should still be awarded the same rights as a non-prisoner, which reminds me of the Shabazz case which was decided differently. But, evidently, this case should be ruled in favor of the plaintiff as his free exercise rights were clearly violated. No person should be forced to participate in a religious service they do not want to attend, or are not in agreement with. Clearly, Mr. Janny was not religious, and therefore should not be made to attend a Christian service.
Good post and I would also agree with your analysis. Mr. Janny should not have been thrown in jail because he violated his parole by not going to Christian service. I wanted to point out a hypothetical. That is what if Mr. Janny was Christian and he offered and agreed to go to Christian service to help him out mentally? What if that was his form of therapy. Would the parole officer still be violating his First Amendment rights for mandating a religious activity even if Mr. Janny agreed to it beforehand? I just wanted to throw that out there. With that being said this was obviously not the case because Mr. Janny was an atheist and was forced to go to Christian services. However, he didn't go and was dealt with jail time which is a total violation of his First Amendment rights.
Tris, this was a very interesting post. I agree with you that Janny’s free exercise rights were violated when he was required to participate in the religious worship and practices at the Denver Rescue Mission, with the only alternative being to return back to jail. In this case, I also think that the Establishment Clause has been violated. The Colorado Department of Corrections is a part of the Colorado state government. One could argue that their placement of Janny into a Christian homeless shelter where he is forced to engage in Christian practices, seems to indicate that the state is “sponsoring” religion. Therefore, I think that the Colorado Department of Corrections violated both the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
I agree with your analysis of this case that Mr. Janny’s First Amendment rights were violated when his parole officer required him to attend religious meetings that were against his religious belief. The fact that Mr. Janny was prisoned for not following these rules further demonstrates that this was a violation of his First Amendment rights. Mr. Janny as an atheist being forced to attend religious meetings that discuss Christian beliefs is clearly a form of coercion. Also I do not see there to be any reason for the parole officer to require Mr. Janny to attend these religious meetings. I am unsure of what the parole officer goal was in Mr. Janny attending these religious activities but I am sure that there were other ways the parole officer could have accomplished this goal without the use of religion.
I agree with the majority on this case as well. It is clear that Mr. Janny had no significant religious aspects in his life and even declared that he was an atheist who did not believe in God or any form of religious worship. There are many other group organizations that offer support for someone coming out of jail that are not religious by any means which Mr. Janny’s parole officer could have sent him to if his motive was to place him in a welcoming environment or community. No United States citizen has any sort of legal requirement to be religious or attend any religious events on any grounds in this country, therefore by forcing him to get that is a plain and simple violation of his First Amendment rights. This is a clear form of religious coercion imposed upon Mr. Janny by the government.
Tris,
This case and the situation faced by Mark Janny illustrate the fine line between governmental overreach and constitutional rights, especially those of religious freedom. Mark's parole officer and the Denver Rescue Mission surely infringed upon his constitutional rights by coercing him into religious activities contrary to his beliefs. The Free Exercise Clause not only protects an individual's right to practice religion but also an individual's right to abstain from practicing religion (on any grounds) without fear of coercion.
I believe that the dissenting opinion rightly questions the accountability of non-state actors like the Rescue Mission's director, emphasizing the need for clarity in distinguishing between state and private entities. However, the decision to allow Mark to pursue damages affirms that no individual should be compelled to participate in religious practices against their will. The observation made by Bella in an earlier comment also adds an interesting dimension to the debate regarding the potential violation of the Establishment Clause, expanding the conversation beyond individual rights and shedding light on broader systemic issues within the Colorado Department of Corrections. Nice post!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this blog post. It sheds light on an important case where the boundaries of religious freedom were tested. Mark Janny's ordeal highlights the significance of protecting individuals' rights to practice or abstain from religion as they see fit. The coercion and threats employed by his parole officer and the institution were clear violations of his First Amendment rights. The subsequent intervention by groups like DLA Piper, Americans United, and the ACLU underscores the commitment to upholding religious liberty in our nation. This case serves as a testament to the effectiveness of the American justice system in safeguarding individual freedoms. Mark's courage in standing up for his beliefs sets a significant precedent for the protection of religious rights for all individuals.
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