Joshua Cookson, convicted of murdering an acquaintance at his mobile home in 1999 wants a federal court judge to require Maine prison officials to allow him to practice Satanism as a religion.

Cookson is allowed to practice Satanism in his own cell, but he wants permission to practice with others.

Gerald Otahal arrived at death row early on a recent Thursday morning, ready for his regular visit to counsel and pray with condemned inmate Gregory Wilson.

What happened next left Otahal puzzled – guards turned him away at the door with instructions to go home as the Kentucky Department of Corrections cracks down on pastoral visits at the Kentucky State Penitentiary.

A source at Dover prison said: “It seems ridiculous that staff have to go out of their way to treat these prisoners differently.

Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley in Yorkshire, said: “Another way for people not to have their cells searched for drugs is not to commit crime in the first place. If you commit a crime and go to prison, there are certain things which you expect to happen.”

Messianic Jews believe in Jesus. But they still consider themselves as faithful to Judaism as anyone else.

They want to eat kosher meals, avoiding pork and shellfish and not mixing meat and dairy products. But if they are inmates in Ohio prisons, they are out of luck. Kosher meals are a privilege afforded only to traditional Jews.

The Supreme Court said yesterday that a Muslim inmate cannot sue the government over the disappearance of the prisoner’s copies of the Quran and a prayer rug.

Cooks in Canadian jails whip up special religious fare for our incarcerated — from Rastafarian to Wiccan

Missouri prison inmate Norman Lee Toler was once labeled as a white supremacist, after, authorities say, he was caught in an Illinois penitentiary with seven photos of Adolf Hitler and a fresh “SS” tattoo. This week, however, Toler was in federal court in St. Louis, saying he is Jewish and that his soul will be in jeopardy if he is forced to eat nonkosher food.

When a prison warden made him stop preaching, Spratt sued. This summer he won his case and the right to resume spreading the Gospel, which he does. He preaches to anyone and everyone willing to listen.

Religious materials are being returned to prison chapel libraries, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said Thursday, confirming plans to modify a program designed to remove religious books and videos that could incite violence.

Religious books and materials once available to inmates at Mississippi’s federal prison have been removed from the facility’s library as part of a new national policy officials say is designed, in part, to thwart acts of violence or terrorism.

Jewish inmates who follow strict religious diets at state prisons are no longer provided meals in line with their beliefs. Muslims must now eat vegan food to satisfy their religious requirements.

Wesley Spratt, an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church, preached for about seven years in prison after undergoing a religious awakening and receiving what he said was a calling from God.

The “InnerChange Freedom Initiative” has seen evangelicals take over wings of prisons around the nation and set up special courses for chosen inmates. Supporters say it cuts down repeat offending – but opponents say it is evangelism by the back door, paid for in part by the state.

The removal of the books is occurring nationwide – part of a long-delayed post-Sept. 11 federal directive designed to prevent radical religious texts, specifically Islamic ones, from falling into the hands of violent inmates.

An inmate serving life in prison for a torture murder that sent two co-defendants to death row wants a federal judge to approve a toy sword and other items and privileges for the practice of an ancient European religion.