Convicted murderer sues Kansas prison for 'imposing strong Christian values'

A woman who is serving a murder charge at the Topeka Correctional Facility (TCF) in Kansas is suing prison officials for allegedly violating her constitutional rights by "imposing strong Christian values" on inmates.

Shari Webber-Dunn, who received a minimum 40-year prison sentence after being convicted of helping her boyfriend murder her husband, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., alleging that the prison officials are engaging in a government establishment of religion.

The suit claims that the officials have created a "coercive atmosphere where inmates are pressured to spend their time in a highly religious atmosphere and to participate in religious activities and prayers, thus violating the establishment clause."

Among the complaints listed in the lawsuit are the display of religious messages and symbols on public bulletin boards, encouraging prayer requests, display of a large cross in a multi-purpose room, airing of Christian movies on facility television and otherwise "imposing strong Christian values" on inmates, Kansas City Star reported.

"Defendants' actions, failures to act, and policies described above lack a secular purpose, have the effect of promoting, favoring and endorsing religion — particularly Christianity — over non-religion, and result in an excessive entanglement between government and religion, thus violating the establishment clause," the lawsuit stated.

The American Humanist Association (AHA), based in Washington, D.C., joined Webber-Dunn in suing the prison officials.

"Prisons are not exempt from the Constitution and prisoners do not lose the shield from state-sponsored religion provided by the establishment clause," said David Niose, legal director of the AHA, according to Fox News.

The lawsuit named Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Joe Norwood, TCF Warden Shannon Meyer, TCF Facility Service Administrator Kevin Keith and an unidentified corrections officer as defendants.

Webber-Dunn, 49, claims to be a practitioner of Thelema, which urges adherents to "follow their true will to attain fulfillment in life and freedom from restriction of their nature."

Prison records revealed that she has been incarcerated since 1995, and will not be eligible for parole until 2034.

Samir Arif, a Department of Corrections spokesman, declined to comment on the ongoing litigation, citing department policy.

The lawsuit came as Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is awaiting confirmation in the U.S. Senate as President Donald Trump's pick to be the international ambassador of religious freedom. The governor has reportedly boasted about the decrease in recidivism rates among state prisoners who took part in a faith-based mentoring program.

Last month, Brownback announced a pay increase for corrections officers to address the staffing shortage in the state's prison system.