Berlin, NH – Seth Bader, the Stratham attorney convicted of murdering his ex-wife in 1996, has lost a federal lawsuit accusing the state of depriving him of the ability to practice his religion by transferring him to the prison in Berlin.
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Bader, an Orthodox Jew, attended Sabbath services twice a month, celebrated Jewish holidays and met regularly with a rabbi while at the state prison in Concord, where he served the first 12 years of his life sentence.
In December 2010, corrections officials transferred Bader to the prison in Berlin, where Jewish services aren’t offered.
Although the prison’s chaplain tried to find volunteers to lead services, he had little success: The prison had just one other practicing Jewish inmate, and volunteers from Concord said they were unable to make the trip north.
Bader sued the state under a federal law prohibiting the government from imposing burdens on a prisoner’s religious practice.
But local conditions, not prison restrictions, are to blame for the Berlin facility’s lack of Jewish services, according to a decision issued last month by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
In denying his appeal, the court said Bader’s problems “derive from a lack of outside clergy, volunteer visitors, and practicing co-religionists” – not a prison decision to preclude visits from rabbis or limit the number of Jewish inmates.
Bader could argue the prison’s decision to transfer him to Berlin caused his current problems, but by that logic, he could also argue the state’s refusal to grant him parole had burdened his religious practice, the court said.
“There are several million prisoners in the United States; many would likely prefer some other prison in the jurisdiction and many could plausibly claim that transfers would be more conducive to the practice of their religion,” the court said.
Or he could argue that by committing murder he deprived and thereby being sentenced to prison “caused his current problem”
I am sure that the chaplain called the Aleph Institute.
Did he murder someone? Just checking. Praying with a minyan does not null ones sins. U killed! One may not kill as listed in the ten commandments!
America is a land of freedom of religion. I think that it is a crime that anyone no matter how convicted or unworthy as a human being is deprived of his right to access his higher power to be seen as either repentant or seeking restitution for any pain and suffering he or she feels she has in their unfortunate and sometimes not even responsible situation (in the case of mental illnesses or wrongful conviction).
There is a major problem that our Jewish people are not given religious materials including tefillin and tzitzis as well as kosher meals of any decent respectable variety.
If a man is guilty of murder he is absolutely a man with no rights under the flag of America, but he does have a right to prayer.
Davening with a minyan is not a right in prison. As long as one can daven, learn, keep shabbos and yom tov, and have kosher food, he is very lucky (as some states do not allow kosher food). A minyan is a luxury in prison. Most frum Jews in Federal prisons (other than Otisville or Ft. Dix) only get together for minyan once a week, and they do not usually have a minyan. In many NYS state prisons there is not often enough Jews for a minyan in any one facility (Baruch Hashem). Many frum inmates do not have the luxury of a minyan.
This monster MURDERED an innocent women. Perhaps that doesn’t mean much to today’s crop of ultra Orthodox, but to many of us other Yidden it does. He can daven alone all day if he wants, as do countless of thousands and thousands of elderly or sick or shut ins do every day. A cold blooded killer deserves nothing more than those fine erliche Yidden!
Only 376 miles from Brooklyn #5 and #6 , with your help you only need 7 more.
The missing piece of the story is why he was transferred to Berlin. Without that information, it’s hard to tell whether the state was justified.
Stop! We have to stop this! Yidden now know that even if they get caught they will be able to have full “freedom of religion” – and essentially have a long Sabbatical sitting and learning, davening and becoming good Jews.
Some may even feel it was worth it. We have to stop this; if part of the punishment would be having to practice Judaism under restricted conditions (fasting since there’s no food), davening by heart since there are no Siddurim, learning by repeating the saem few lines they have memorized – over and over again) then maybe we’d have fewer religious Jews in prison.
This morning I read about a Bochur arrested in Europe; he sounded like he was on a camping trip; “the foods is OK, I get to speak home very day and have lots of visitors.”. And he knows that Askanim will be moving heaven and earth to get him out, despite knowing that he did something illegal.
Once we remove the deterrent, we are essentially creating a generation of criminals.
a frum murderer in jail, terrible, and he wants his rights to be orthodox. wow, what a life.
Did he murder someone? Just checking. Praying with a minyan does not null ones sins. U killed! One may not kill as listed in the ten commandments!
No remorse in mu opinion for killing ones spouse. Don’t start bringing up religion .luck of the draw with prisons. He can become frum.till.the cows.come.home.does not mean he needs minyan.only went twice a month. So what’s the issue. Stop wasting state money.
It also sounds like the courts are getting tired of these suits for religious reasons. He isn’t complaining about not getting kosher food, etc. He should work his way through the system although no one has explained why they transferred him–was he trying to be a “wise guy” or causing other trouble. That’s one of the problems with news reports.
So we are commenting withough being given all the facts.
It’s no hotel in prison. I know someone frum in prison that was conned into something that he thought was legit. Now he is in prison for more than two years and hasn’t even had a trial or sentencing yet. He does the best he can, but, it’s no picnic. Just because someone is in prison, that does not mean he shouldn’t try and keep the mitzvos. We don’t know how or why someone did a crime but, we are quick to judge him. Don’t judge someone until you stand in his place.
this guy is a murderer. sorry, but i think our resources could be used otherwise. if the state of NH had to move him, let him daven in his cell and eat Snickers bars.
Think about it: It is a shanda that there are enough Jewish criminals to make a minyan in even one prison. It seems to me that the goal of incarcerated Jews should be to humble themselves and make tshuvah. We all have to do this, in fact. As we learn in the Tochecha, G-d will set forth all types of iniquities upon us because of our sins, and even when we finally recognize that the tribulations are really G-d speaking to us, it will not be enough to merely confess our sins. G-d wants us to humble ourselves first and rid ourselves of arrogance. Only then will Hashem accept our tefilah and remember His covenant with our patriarchs. It is arrogant to make demands of G-d when our sins are in his crosshairs. Similarly, it is arrogant of a criminal to demand special treatment for his religious needs when he cared little about the needs of his victims. Of course the system isn’t going to bend for him alone, nor should it.
Show some rachmanus. The mitzva of Pidyon Shavim applies equally to the guilty r”l.