7th Circuit grants injunction allowing Wiccan prisoner to wear pentacle medallion
Photo of pentacle medallion from the court opinion.
A Wiccan who wanted to wear a pentacle medallion small enough to comply with prison jewelry regulations may wear the necklace pending resolution of his lawsuit, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a preliminary injunction to inmate Gilbert Knowles in an opinion last week, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reports. Circuit Judge Richard Posner wrote the opinion.
Knowles had sued the warden of the Pontiac Correctional Center under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The warden cited state prison policy banning inmates from possessing five- and six-point star symbols because they can be used as gang identifiers. Knowles said he was willing to wear the medallion under his shirt while outside his cell.
Posner said Knowles’ freedom of religion “has been gratuitously infringed by the prison.” His opinion includes a photo of a pentacle medallion and explains the basics of the Wiccan religion.
“The pentacle medallion is to the Wiccan religion what the cross is to many Christians; the plaintiff claims that it protects his body and his spirit against ‘harm, evil entities and negative energy,’ ” Posner writes.
Hat tip to ISBA Daily Legal News.
