Each week in the Dane County Jail, just 20 out of the nearly 900 inmates are selected to go worship in the jail’s designated sacred space.
A former inmate, Robert Lynn, recalls the agonizing weeks when he wasn’t among the lucky ones picked to visit a small concrete room in the jail in the top floors of the City County Building where services are held.
“I remember spending Wednesday night clutching myself feeling so alone because I didn’t make the list,” Lynn says. “It’s crushing.”
A group of community faith leaders are pressing Dane County officials to designate space for worship in the $76-million jail renovation. The Rev. Christa Fischer, a former jail chaplain, says the county’s current plans, which do not provide space, demonstrate that “jail design is more focused on the building than those who are [incarcerated] inside.”
However, Dane County Supv. Paul Rusk, who chairs the county’s Public Protection and Judiciary Committee, says that creating space solely for faith-based activities will limit what other activities can occur. “We are trying to get it right,” he says. “We need to have multi-use space that is used for all sorts of things.”
Faith leaders worry that their concerns aren’t being heard. They want to see a dedicated space for worship, study, meditation, art, yoga and other spiritual practices. Religious leaders and former inmates will hold a panel discussion on the issue July 29 from 4 to 6 p.m. at New Life Church, 7564 Cottage Grove Road.
“It is our hope that a designated interfaith sacred space will be set aside for the purpose of caring for one’s spirit,” Fischer says. “Priority would be given to any practice or activity that is spiritually renewing, with the hopes of increasing worship opportunities for people of all faith traditions.”
Sheriff Dave Mahoney says that a dedicated spiritual space isn’t feasible.
“There is limited space to replace 350 beds and create currently non-existent medical and mental health beds,” Mahoney says. “What do you give up for that sacred space? Medical beds? The jobs center? We may have to come to the realization on our own that some things will need to be put aside.”
Chaplain Katharine Goray says that at an April 12, 2017 listening session in Fitchburg, county officials promised to include faith leaders in plans for the jail. However, Fischer says “to date, no one from the jail redesign planning team has contacted us.”
“My sense is it is a communication gap,” Rusk says.
A planning document from the consultant firm Mead & Hunt shows that some floors won’t have any programming space. But Rusk says that’s because the designs aren’t final. “What you have here was a report to the county showing how the four floors would work, but not the final detail plans which are being developed as we speak,” he says.
Currently, the board has approved some contracts for the renovation and is continuing to look at best practices in jails both in Wisconsin and in nearby states. A committee made up of county officials and community members — including one person recommended by Madison Organizing in Strength, Equality and Solidarity, or MOSES — will look at the design in more detail, says Rusk. The committee, which has no formal name, will hold about five meetings this fall, Rusk says.
But the county needs to keep the project moving, Rusk says.
“Today, we have a terribly unsafe jail that is a tremendous risk to the life and safety of the inmates, deputies, volunteers and ultimately the taxpayers of Dane County because of potential lawsuits,” Rusk writes in an email. “After decades of discussion and millions of dollars in studies we are finally moving forward. To me that is the key issue.”
Mahoney says he’s committed to providing his inmates spiritual support, saying it “has significant impact on decreasing incarceration.” He’s looking at an option that would allow more inmates to worship simultaneously. “The vision is to have more people practice by using larger space that is multi-use,” such as the gymnasium, the sheriff says.
Fischer remains hopeful the county board can be convinced to designate sacred space in the design.
“A deliberately designed space has the power to set a transformative atmosphere that spiritually and emotionally fosters the ability to feel fully human and open to change,” Fischer says. “Intentionally set aside and planned space or the lack thereof can form or deform our spirits, humanize or dehumanize our souls.”
Robert Lynn, who was released from the jail in May 2016 after serving time for a drug conviction, credits his time in the jail’s sacred space and Fischer with saving his life.
Lynn, who is Catholic but has studied other religions, says that the sacred space run in the jail by the Madison Area Jail Ministry “gave me a sense of connection to my community that I lacked.”
By connecting with his faith, he started to see new possibilities for himself. “It made me feel that I could be a good person,” says Lynn. “My original state was deeply flawed. I thought heroin and a needle was a way to deal with that. Through the sacred space I had an opportunity to focus on my future…. If others can forgive me, maybe I can forgive me.”
