Having never fully embraced a religious identity, I have always reserved a place of reverence for people who have found their god or spiritual enlightenment. There is a sacred almost untouchable feeling I get from those who have repented for their sins and forged their bond with their higher power. When Karla Faye Tucker, a Born-Again Christian in prison, was put to death in Texas's Huntsville Unit on February 3, 1998 for a double-murder committed 15 years earlier, I shared the awe, and understood the outrage and conflict Americans, Europeans and people around the world felt about her execution.

Over the past ten years in America both the women's and men's prison population has almost doubled to 1.3 million men and 92 thousand women. If you include individuals awaiting sentencing, the figure approaches nearly 2 million, a number equal to if not greater than the total prison population of Russia. To make it more tangible, prison inmates represent approximately 1 in every 140 US citizens behind bars!

"Faith From Inside: Religion in Prison" provides insight into how religious programs and prayer offer humanity to prison life that is more often than not lonely, loveless, and dishonest. Chaplains offer inmates a refuge from the dangers of prison yards and cellblocks. One on one counseling, bible studies, and group therapy offer inmates a chance to share their anger, sadness, and feelings of separation from loved ones--children, spouses and friends. Inmates find time in their daily lives, whether on work details, in their cells, or out in the yards to convene and create a moment dedicated to looking beyond themselves and toward their higher power.

NPR's morning edition (09/07/01) ran a piece titled Iowa God Pods on the topic of religion in prison. They referred to "jail house conversions" as "a staple of prison life" and that "early indications suggest that [religion] reduces the recidivism rate." In addition President George W. Bush has made strong pushes to introduce funding into faith-based programs including specifically focusing on funding programs in prison systems.

By the laws of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act instated in 1993, states are obligated to the best of their abilities to accommodate the spiritual needs of its incarcerated population. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Wiccans, Native Americans, and a wide variety of other religious groups practice their rituals under one roof, often within inches of each other. Most of the groups are lead by State employed chaplains and sometimes by civilian volunteers who have overcome, fears, stereotypes and prejudices, to pray and heal with individuals and groups of felon inmates.

Angola Maximum Security, located in the heart of Louisiana, has a Baptist Theological Seminary on the prison grounds. The seminary offers inmates a four year degree program to obtain the right to minister throughout the prison. Stillwater Maximum Security in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, baptizes 16-17 inmates at a time using a laundry cart filled with water and the blessings of a young, vibrant and spirited minister brought in from the outside. Women convicted of heinous murders and on Death Row at the Muncy Unit in Muncy, Pennsylvania reach through their meal tray slots to embrace in prayer the hand of dedicated chaplains such as Joanne Torma, an unconventional Episcopalian preacher, who has won the hearts of staff and inmates.

The public has been conditioned by popular shows such as HBO's Oz, and countless movies depicting evil, violent and hopeless prison environments devoid of rehabilitation. Maybe there are pockets of sanity, salvation, repentance and understanding where we never expected or understood? Maybe felon criminals can restructure their lives and heal their souls? Maybe we have found one way to balance punitive action with a rehabilitative structure?