Rev. Danny Fisher

The St. Petersburg Times reported on Monday that Buddhist chaplain Frank Tedesco was stripped of his duties by officials at Pinellas County Jail.

After the discovery of three bins of “spirituality books” that were deemed contraband, jail officials cited a breach of contract and Tedesco subsequently lost his privileges at the prison. The article continues:

Authorities said Tedesco simply chewed up the patience of jail personnel while repeatedly breaking strict jailhouse rules…Authorities point to two documented instances where Tedesco broke the rules in a place where rules can’t be broken. One involved Tedesco bringing a fine-tipped calligraphy pen into the jail that he let inmates use to sign a class roster…The other breach of protocol involved books–specifically, a series by social justice activist Bo Lozoff and other texts Tedesco described as “Buddhist classics” left over by outgoing inmates…But books and pens were just part of the problem, officials said. Tedesco often demanded the rules be stretched for him, they said.

Tedesco himself offers other explanations for his being removed as a volunteer:

Tedesco, 60, an unpaid volunteer, thinks the blowup stems at least in part from a Christian bias…”If the book doesn’t look like the Bible, they chuck it,” Tedesco said…Tedesco [also] attributed the ousting to his liberal persona (“I’m a cutting-edge Berkeley type in a conservative community”), his erudite background (“I’m older than they are and I’m better educated”) and his triumphs as a teacher (“Maybe it’s my enthusiasm and my success with the inmates.”).

As I don’t know any more about this situation than what was printed in the article, I don’t really have much of an opinion on this matter. One thing did jump out at me, however…

Although the article makes clear that the books mentioned in the second documented incident violated an October 2006 contract in which Tedesco agreed to clear all literature with jail officials, those same officials also complained about one of the Bo Lozoff books including reprints of drawings by prisoners of “naked men and women posing in various assorted venues.”

I’m not sure what to make of this comment. If jail officials are trying to suggest that the book is pornographic in nature, or something along those lines, they’re certainly barking up the wrong tree. Lozoff has been named by the Utne Reader as one of the country’s “100 Spiritual Visionaries.” He is co-founder of an organization dedicated to “[inspiring and encouraging] prisoners and prison staff to recognize their depth as human beings, and to behave accordingly.” He and his wife Sita have visited over 500 prisons to lead workshops for prisoners and corrections officers. Speaking about another of Lozoff’s books (that also contains drawings of nude figures by prisoners), His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet said: “This practical manual will inspire everyone who is as concerned with helping others as with their own personal improvement.”

Accordingly, Lozoff calls the complaint about the images in the book “a crock and a shame.”

Lozoff also says that “the tensions between Tedesco and the jail are a misunderstanding.” If this is the case, perhaps the misunderstanding can be worked out in the future. If not, at the very least it seems that the prisoners at Pinellas County Jail who are interested in Buddhism will continue to be served:

[The spokesman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office] insisted [that the stipped of Tedesco's duties as a chaplain is] nothing personal or discriminatory, just a matter of protocol. The next Buddhist volunteer will be welcomed with open arms, he added.