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Florida Troubles!

Shalom, brothers and sisters,

Here is the situation at present between the Florida Department of Corrections and Sabbath Keepers Fellowship & Prison Ministry. After speaking two weeks ago with Chaplain Spanos and Melvin Herring, who is chief of the FDC Literature Review Committee, it was determined that certain items SKF sends to Florida inmates were now impounded and subject to being banned statewide because of their inclusion of the Hebrew language. These are our annual newsletter and a Chumash – a Hebrew study bible.

Sabbath Keepers Fellowship is a full-service Sabbath-keeping prison ministry, the largest in the USA of our type. We serve thousands of prisoners in over 400 prisons and 42 states with not only Passover packages, but bibles, books, a newsletter, a calendar, music CD’s and supplies for their worship services, articles and teachings, as well as providing volunteers for live services in some areas. Our primary policy and vehicle for letting our inmates know of our services and providing the order forms to acquire what we offer, including nearly 2,000 inmates in Florida prisons alone, is our annual newsletter. Without it, we can serve no one.

The FDC’s “Literature Review Committee” put our materials under investigation. Chaplain Spanos and Melvin Herring said the literature banning and Passover packages are two separate issues governed by two distinct FDC departments. We don’t see it that way, and again, the vehicle used for both inmates and chaplains to order what we provide is our newsletter. As of this date, at least one entire Florida prison unit has not been afforded our newsletter with its order forms, or an opportunity to order Passover packages, or any of our other materials.

It should be noted, and was affirmed by Melvin Herring, that some other religions using Hebrew are not so bound to such reviews and banning. The Orthodox Jewish community in the FDC, which has its own resident contract Rabbi within the system, is not subject to this. Also, the Hebrew Israelite community enjoys this same freedom of publication because they sued the FDC over actions begun by the Literature Review Committee and won that lawsuit. The issues should be the same for Sabbath-keeping or Sabbatarian inmates and their own external ministries, except they have not yet sued anyone.

Today, we spoke with Melvin Herring, and he confirmed that a bible which was impounded was allowed and presumably returned to an inmate. We do have FDC records that another bible was destroyed. However, the Freedom’s Call newsletter which has been in print and delivered to Florida inmates for decades is now permanently banned within the FDC. Mr. Herring also confirmed that many other publications will be subject to review because of the Hebrew language in them. Because of our policies and procedures to offer our materials through order forms contained within this newsletter, our ministry presence with the Florida Department of Corrections has now ended or at least been put on hold until this issue is resolved. Anyone in Florida ministry work who uses any form of Hebrew language should be informed that they could be next.

We have done our best to correct this situation with the FDC for weeks now, in love, prayer, and reason, until there is just not much left to say. We were told to take things further up the chain of command if we wish, and so we are – that level up would be you. I think it is time for others to step up and help. As for Passover packages in Florida prisons this year, we have one week before we address and send out all of ours nationwide, so little time is left, and it appears Florida prisons will not be on our list of recipients. In the event we fail to resolve this issue, which now seems quite likely, any volunteers you know of who can still provide Passover for the inmates on FDC prison units should be encouraged to do so.

Shalom!

Mrs. Lisa Haufler
Director, Sabbath Keepers Fellowship

Main Office: (903) 489-1930
SabbathKeepersFellowship.org
lisaSabbath Keepers Fellowship.org

Letter to FDC General Secretary

Florida DOC Secretary of Prisons
Ricky Dixon, General Secretary
501 S. Calhoun Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2500
ricky.dixon@fdc.myflorida.com

3/11/2025

Secretary Dixon,

Hello, my name is Lisa Haufler, and I am the Executive Director of Sabbath Keepers Fellowship & Prison Ministry.

We are experiencing some difficulty with the Florida Department of Corrections at present, and I hope you can help. Without attention, this difficulty could become quite difficult for all of us.

We are the largest Sabbath-keeping prison ministry in the U.S.A., and we serve thousands of inmates in Florida alone. We have been doing our job to faithfully serve you since 1996. We provide bibles and other books, newsletters, calendars, religious garments, articles and teachings, provide services for volunteers and chaplains, and an annual Passover Package program to about 2,000 of FDC’s inmates.

As of today, we have had to suspend all of our services to Florida. This is due to a new policy by the Literature Review Committee banning some of the Hebrew language, the original language of the bible, to Florida inmates. Most all of what we provide to Sabbath-keeping inmates has some Hebrew on it somewhere, which cannot be changed, and this is the first time it has become an issue in our decades of service to the FDC. To date, we have received notice of two Hebrew/English bibles being rejected because of the Hebrew language in them on two separate prison units, and our annual newsletter to inmates and chaplains on at least one entire prison unit for the same reason.

Until this issue is resolved, we can no longer send items from our ministry to Florida. The rejections and waste of money would not be supported by our donors, many of whom reside in Florida. With the Passover season imminently upon us, this situation could get out of hand quickly. We are now finalizing the delivery of 2,050 Passover Packages at a cost to our charitable ministry of $30,750 to the inmates in your state, which has now been put on hold. Final arrangements for delivery of these in all 42 states we serve will be in the next two weeks. So, if it is in your power to help, we would be very grateful.

We look forward to seeing this matter resolved swiftly and getting back to serving our inmates and the staff of the FDC without delay.

Mrs. Lisa Haufler
Sabbath Keepers Fellowship, Executive Director

903-489-1930 (office)
903-386-8561 (cell)
P.O. Bx. 972, Malakoff, TX. 75148
SabbathKeepersFellowship.org
lisaSabbath Keepers Fellowship.org

Letter to Florida Chaplains

Dear Chaplain,

As of 2/10/2025, no materials from Sabbath Keepers Fellowship will be going out to the over 2,000 Sabbath-keeping inmates we serve in Florida and have served since 1996. This includes all of our items: books, bibles, newsletters, garments, articles and teachings, as well as our annual Passover Package Program materials. This is not our choice, but that of the Florida Department of Corrections.

The Literature Review Committee, part of the FDC’s Central Committee, has denied any materials with Hebrew language to be let into the Florida prison system. Our bibles, newsletters, garments, and even the box of matzah in our Passover Packages all have Hebrew in them. Even though the books we send were published in the original scriptural language in 1936, this language will no longer be allowed because Florida’s Committee says:

“The publication was rejected by the Literature Review Committee for reason 15 (F) which states “the publication is written in code or otherwise written in a manner that is not reasonably subject to interpretation by Dept staff as to meaning or intent.”

We assume this may shortly hold true for any other languages the FDC doesn’t understand, such as Spanish or the Qoran in Arabic. If it doesn’t, it could very well be construed as an antisemitic instance.

We apologize for not being able to serve you at present, especially as we are making our last arrangements for our annual Passover Package program this year. Know that we will be doing our best to resolve this issue to everyone’s benefit as quickly as possible. If you have any similar issues with rejection, please contact us and provide proof, in order to help rectify this matter more quickly. We thank you for your understanding, and also for doing all that you can do yourselves to help us correct this issue, under these present circumstances.

With love in Messiah,

Lisa Haufler
Executive Director, Sabbath Keepers Fellowship

903-489-1930

SabbathKeepersFellowship.org
lisaSabbath Keepers Fellowship.org

Sabbath Keepers Fellowship is a 501(c)(3) charity which has been in service since 1996. We are the largest Sabbatarian prison ministry in the U.S.A., serving over 6,000 prisoners, their families, chaplains, and other prison authorities in 42 states nationwide, with an addition of 20,000 supporters, advocates and donors.

Letter to Chaplain Spanos

Chaplain Spanos,

After our conference call with you and your team today, we were left with a lot of uncertainty about which of Sabbath Keepers Fellowship’s materials could now possibly be guaranteed to be accepted within the Florida state prison system with your seemingly new standards of review and acceptability. We have sent the same materials and publications to inmates in the FDC for decades with no problem, yet now with three different impounds/rejections within the last couple of months, we are becoming uncertain on how to proceed. Something seems to have changed.

During our conference call, Chief Herring spoke on matters pertaining to the Literature Review Committee, and the potential rejection by it of our newsletter and bibles. You spoke on matters not necessarily literature related, which are determined for acceptance at unit level by chaplains and wardens. When we asked you whether or not non-literature materials, such as our Passover Packages, prayer shawls and other items might be impounded or rejected because they have Hebrew writing on them, you responded that they probably would not be, the chances were low regarding such an outcome, but that it was possible.

In the past, we have had universal acceptance of our Passover Packages in Florida, and about 40 other states nationwide. There is never a question or probability about whether or not they will be received by prison authorities. Our investment in Passover Packages alone to the 2,050 inmates and staff of the FDC represents about $30,750.00. Our general expenses in your state prison system are nearly twice that. Please understand, we cannot consider wasting our donor's money or our time on a system now based upon probabilities that could be working against our charitable efforts. We need some kind of certainty about our charitable offerings to the inmates and chaplains of the FDC. Especially with these Passover Packages that are all going out in-lot as a single donation at such expense within the next few weeks. Nationwide, we are making our final arrangements and scheduling for that event right now.

I am enclosing a photo and description of the Sabbath Keepers Fellowship Passover Package for your review. It is the exact same package as delivered to other state prisons, and as has been delivered to the FDC since 2011. If you can have our packages approved, we will be more than glad to send in all of them your Sabbath-keeping inmates need. If you cannot do this, we will probably have to stop our plans to deliver to Florida prisons this year and seek some form of redress. We see no other sensible way to go about this.

Please, if you have some other solution to assuage our worries, let us know. We are trying to accommodate and adjust to your changes as best we can, in faith that we’ll be able to continue serving the thousands of Sabbath-keeping inmates within the Florida Department of Corrections.

?Thanks,

Lisa Haufler, Executive Director
Sabbath Keepers Fellowship
(903) 489-1930
SabbathKeepersFellowship.org
lisaSabbath Keepers Fellowship.org

Letter to Chief Herring

FDC Literature Review Committee
Assistant Chief of Education – Melvin Herring
1 (850) 717-3160
Email: Melvin.herring@fdc.myflorida.com

Chief Herring,

After our conference call with you and your team today, we were left with a lot of uncertainty about what books, bibles, teaching articles, newsletters, and reference materials we could possibly be guaranteed to be accepted within the Florida state prison system with your new standards of review and acceptability. We have sent the same old publications in to inmates in the FDC for decades with no problem, yet now with three different impounds/rejections within the last couple of months, we are having many reservations. Something seems to have changed. It is very possible that there are other new impounds/rejections we are not hearing about through inmate mail or from volunteers. Understand, we cannot waste our donor’s money or our time on a willy-nilly review system that might be working against our charitable efforts, and we cannot afford to find out about these rejections piecemeal over time, or not find out about them at all. We need some kind of certainty about our charitable offerings to the inmates and chaplains of the FDC.

We had a short review after our call with you today and realized there was one possibility we had not brought up for you to consider. If we invest and send a complete library of every printed material we offer to Florida inmates for review by your Literature Review Committee, would you accept them and tell us which pieces you will accept and which you will reject? If you will, then we can proceed on that basis and only send what you will approve of. It seems a fair investment on our part and would save both our staff's time and money in the long run. At a guess, I’d say there are about 60 different books, bibles and articles we send to your inmates. If you will not do this, we will probably have to curtail or stop our offerings to your state and seek some form of redress. We see no other sensible way to go about this.

Please, let us know what you think of this idea, or if you have some other solution. We are trying to accommodate and adjust to your changes as best we can, in faith that we’ll be able to continue serving the thousands of Sabbath-keeping inmates within the Florida Department of Corrections.

Thanks,

Lisa Haufler, Executive Director
Sabbath Keepers Fellowship
(903) 489-1930
SabbathKeepersFellowship.org
lisaSabbath Keepers Fellowship.org

Contact Information

GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS – (850) 488-7146
EXECUTIVE OFFICE: 400 S. MONROE STREET, TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399
EMAIL: GOVERNOR.DESANTIS@EOG.MYFLORIDA.COM

FL SENATOR ED HOOPER – SENATE DISTRICT 16 – (850) 487-5016
OFFICE: 302 SENATE BLDG., 404 SOUTH MONROE STREET, TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399
EMAIL: HOOPER.ED.WEB@FLSENATE.GOV

FL STATE REPRESENTATIVE TRACI KOSTER – HOUSE DISTRICT 64 – (850) 717-5064
OFFICE: 1101 THE CAPITOL, 402 SOUTH MONROE STREET, TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399
EMAIL: TRACI.KOSTER@MYFLORIDAHOUSE.GOV

RICKY DIXON, GENERAL SECRETARY – (850) 488-5021
501 S. CALHOUN STREET, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-2500
EMAIL: RICKY.DIXON@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

KENNETH SUMPTER, INTERIM INSPECTOR GENERAL – (850) 488-9265
501 S. CALHOUN STREET, SUITE 135 – CARLTON BLDG. TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-2500
EMAIL: KENNETH.SUMPTER@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

OFFICE OF CITIZEN SERVICES (OMBUDSMAN) – (850) 488-7052EMAIL: HTTPS://WWW.FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM/....OFFICE-OF-CITIZEN-SE

MICHAEL HARRELL, CHIEF OF SECURITY
EMAIL: MICHAEL.HARRELL@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

ALAN MCMANUS, CHIEF OF POLICY MANAGEMENT AND INMATE APPEALS
EMAIL: ALAN.MCMANUS@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

RICHARD COMERFORD, DEPUTY SECRETARY FDC
EMAIL: RICHARD.COMERFORD@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

DAN JOHNSON, GENERAL COUNSEL
EMAIL: DAN.JOHNSON@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

ALLISON HOLCA, LAWYER, FDC – (850) 354-2401

TIMOTHY FITZGERALD, CHIEF OF STAFF
TIMOTHY.FITZGERALD@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONS – REG.I – ANGELA GORDON – (850) 627-5511
EMAIL: ANGELA.GORDON@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONS – REG.II – JOHN PALMER – (386) 496-6000
EMAIL: JOHN.PALMER@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONS – REG.III – BRIAN RIEDL – (352) 989-9111
EMAIL: BRIAN.RIEDL@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONS – REG.IV – JOSE COLON – (305) 480-4346
EMAIL: JOSE.COLON@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

OFFICE OF PROGRAMS AND RE-ENTRY – AMY FRIZZELL – (850) 717-3050
HTTPS://WWW.FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM/PROGRAMS
EMAIL: DEVELOPMENT@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

CHAPLAINCY SERVICES – JOHNNY FRAMBO – (850) 717-3156
HTTPS://WWW.FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM/PROGRAMS/BUREAU-OF-CHAPLAINCY-SERVICES
EMAIL: DEVELOPMENT@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

ASSISTANT CHIEF OF EDUCATION – MELVIN HERRING – 1 (850) 717-3160
EMAIL: MELVIN.HERRING@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

CHAPLAINCY SERVICES – AUGUSTUS SPANOS
EMAIL: AUGUSTUS.SPANOS@FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM

OFFICE OF CITIZEN SERVICES (OMBUDSMAN) – (850)-488-7052
HTTPS://WWW.FDC.MYFLORIDA.COM/....OFFICE-OF-CITIZEN-SE