[asa] Re: 7th Circuit Decision

Part 2, continuing on page 2

I

We begin with the main event: Kaufman's argument
that the prison officials violated his constitutional rights
when they refused to give him permission to start a study
group for atheist inmates at the prison. The events underlying
Kaufman's lawsuit occurred while he was an inmate at
Wisconsin's Waupun Correctional Institution. Kaufman
sued the then-warden of Waupun, Gary R. McCaughtry, in
part in his individual capacity for damages, and so he
remains a party despite the fact that Waupun now has a
different warden and Kaufman is now at a different
institution, the Jackson Correctional Institution. While at
Waupun, Kaufman submitted an official form titled "Request
for New Religious Practice," in which he asked to
form an inmate group interested in humanism, atheism,
and free speaking. The group would work "[t]o stimulate
and promote Freedom of Thought and inquiry concerning
religious beliefs, creeds, dogmas, tenets, rituals and practices[,
and to] educate and provide information concerning
religious beliefs, creeds, dogmas, tenets, rituals, and prac

No. 04-1914 3

See Kaufman v. McCaughtry, No. 03-C-027-C, 2004
WL 257133, *4 (W.D. Wis. Feb. 9, 2004). Kaufman also
submitted a list of atheist groups and literature. The
officials concluded that Kaufman's request was not motivated
by "religious" beliefs.

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Received on Sun Jun 17 13:04:45 2007