Appeals Court Upholds Discipline For Anti-Gay Discrimination

[davidinalameda]

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/05/050206ohio.htm

A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling in favor of prison supervisors who disciplined the institution's chaplain for refusing to allow a gay inmate to lead a musical group during a religious service.

The decision, handed down last week by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, upholds a 2004 decision by the U.S. District Court in Columbus.

The Rev. William Akridge filed a suit alleging supervisors violated his constitutional rights when he was disciplined in 2002 for refusing to allow the inmate to preside over a choir or band during a Protestant service at Madison Correctional Institution in London in central Ohio.

The appellate court agreed with the lower court, which rejected Akridge's claim that his refusal was speech protected by the First Amendment. The courts held that Akridge's comments were not protected because they were made in his role as chaplain, not as a private citizen.