By ("CBN News," August 10, 2011)
Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/35915/
Centralia, USA - A federal judge struck down a convicted inmate's request to allow him to have a copy of the Satanic Bible on Monday.
Illinois inmate Kevin Halfmann, who is an atheist, said he needed the book to practice his religion. He claimed that the Illinois Department of Corrections had denied his constitutional rights by not allowing him a copy of the Bible.
However, security concerns led U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Wilkerson to reject his petition after hearing the case during a one-day trial.
Halfmann, who is serving a sentence at the Centralia Correctional Center for predatory criminal sexual assault, testified practicing his religion primarily meant following the ritual of 'self-happiness" and having fun on the main holidays - one's birthday and around Halloween.
He could be released in 19 years, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
However, Terri Anderson of the state Department of Corrections told the court specific parts of "The Satanic Bible" seemed to encourage "hatred and violence," not to mention curses.
"For instance, a passage reads: 'If a man smite thee on one cheek, smash him on the other,'" she said.
By the end of the day, the judge agreed with Anderson.
"Due to the security risks involved, Halfmann, like all other state prisoners, should be denied 'The Satanic Bible,'" the judge said.
The Satanic Bible has been banned in Illinois prisons for more than 20 years due to it's potential to incite hatred and violence.
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