Appeals court calls prison church ‘sham religion’

FORT MADISON (AP) — A federal appeals court has called a prison-based church at the Iowa State Penitentiary a “sham religion.”

The court also says prison officials have enough evidence to try to overturn a previous ruling in favor of the Church of the New Song.

The 8th U-S Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a ruling by a federal judge in Des Moines who ordered prison officials to provide food trays from church-sponsored banquets to inmates in disciplinary detention.

The appeals court says the church is a “sham religion that exists only in the prison context and serves as a cover for gang activity.”

Iowa Department of Corrections officials have been struggling with how to respond to the Church of the New Song and several other non-mainstream religions whose inmate followers are often allegedly involved in racist or gang activities.

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