Code of Maine Rules › 03 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS › 201 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS/GENERAL › Chapter 10 - POLICY AND PROCEDURES MANUAL - ADULT › Subsection 201-10-24.3 - Religious Services, General Guidelines

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
I.
AUTHORITY
The Commissioner of Corrections adopts this policy pursuant
				  to the authority contained in
				  34-A M.R.S.A.
				  Section3048.
II.
APPLICABILITY
All Departmental Adult Facilities
III.
POLICY
The Department recognizes that prisoners have a
				  constitutional right to practice their religions. Prisoners shall be allowed to
				  practice their religions either individually or as a group through
				  participation in scheduled religious activities unless the religion or activity
				  presents a threat to safety, security, or the orderly management of the
				  facility.
IV.
DEFINITIONS
1. Audio CD - a
				compact disc is a digital audio disc on which sound, especially music, can be
				played, as well as audio books, speeches, etc. For the purposes of this policy,
				audio CDs include any future audio formats that may be developed.
2. Clergy - a trained leader who represents
				and is endorsed by a recognized religious group in the community or larger
				religious organization to administer sacraments, perform rites, counsel,
				instruct, or conduct group religious services and ceremonies. For Native
				Americans, this includes a Native American spiritual leader of a federally
				recognized tribe.
3. DVD - a
				digital video disc is a digital optical disc that displays stored information
				in a video format. For the purposes of this policy, video DVDs include any
				future video formats that may be developed.
4. Faith Review Committee - a panel of
				representative Department of Corrections staff who serve in an advisory
				capacity regarding religious accommodations as they relate to and impact
				safety, security, and orderly management.
5. Group Religious Service - a religious
				service, also called a worship service, or simply a service, that is a
				formalized period for worship, fellowship, and/or congregational
				participation.
6. Outdoor
				Multi-Faith Area - an outdoor area designated by the facility Chief
				Administrative Officer to accommodate outdoor group religious services and
				ceremonies.
7. Recognized Religion
				- for the purposes of this policy, a religion allowed to be practiced within
				the Department's adult facilities as listed on Attachment A, Recognized
				Religions and Allowable Religious Group Activities.
8. Religious Accommodation - a recognition of
				a religion allowed for practice within the Department's adult facilities; a
				religious activity; or a personal or group religious item.
9. Religious Activity - a religious activity
				is an individual practice, group religious service or ceremony, religious
				feast, observance of religious holy days, religious instruction, religious
				study (individual or group), religious counseling, participation in religious
				dietary practice, or special religious programming.
10. Religious Diet - dietary restrictions as
				a result of a mandatory religious tenet of a recognized religion.
11. Religious Fast - abstinence from food
				and/or drink as an element of private or public religious devotion. A fast may
				be practiced as a group or on an individual basis.
12. Religious Feast - a ceremonial event that
				includes a specific food item(s) in celebration or recognition of a major holy
				day. Each recognized religion may have a maximum of one religious feast meal
				per calendar year.
13. Religious
				Publications - publications of a religious nature printed and issued from a
				religious or secular press and distributed free of charge or for sale,
				including, but not limited to, religious formal books (Bible, Koran, or the
				equivalent), magazines, catalogs, brochures, flyers, pamphlets, tracts,
				newspapers, calendars, and music/song books.
14. Religious Volunteer - a person from the
				community, eighteen (18) years of age or older, and approved through the
				volunteer application process to assist a Chaplain, or other designated staff,
				in providing religious services to prisoners.