I have been a chaplain and/or administrator in prisons in Pennsylvania, Washington and Oregon and retired last year after 19 years in the Minnesota Department of Corrections. We are blessed in Minnesota with hundreds of willing religious volunteers who visit our 10 correctional facilities to provide community contact, offer hope, faith, forgiveness and religious support to men who have committed crimes against their communities.
As you may know, 95 percent of all men in prison will return to their communities and it just makes sense to provide options for change and improvement while they are incarcerated. That is why we encourage community contact and support.
For the men "Locked in limbo" (Star Tribune, June 8), committed for life after having served their prison sentence, there are very few volunteers. I know. I am currently under contract with the Minnesota Sex Offender Program to establish policies, procedures and practice that will allow these men access to religious options.
Whether released or not, these men have a constitutional right to have access to and practice their religion. Without volunteers from the community it is difficult to establish a viable religious program for them.
It would seem on the surface that these men have crossed some religious boundary for being eligible for divine care, concern or rehabilitation. It seems a sad commentary on our religious community and organizations when we exclude those truly "lost" in limbo.
STEPHEN C. HOKONSON, HUDSON, WIS.
