Judge Says Prisoner Can’t Represent Fellow Atheist Inmates in Class-Action Lawsuit Over Religious Treatment Programs

As one comment pointed out, "It shouldn't matter if he was the only atheist in prison. If he were a Christian and the program was run by a Muslim organization, you can bet your ass there'd be an uproar and a change of law. But he's an atheist."

From what I could gather, there was nothing in the ruling denouncing the religious program itself, only that Jackson should have been given a similar secular option. (I’m not sure why a taxpayer-funded religious program should be allowed in the first place.) Still, for his sake, this was the right call.

Last November, on the advice of his attorney, Jackson resubmitted his case as a class-action lawsuit. Basically, he was saying that the earlier legal victory applied only to him… but it should apply to all atheists in his situation:

The proposed class is “all prisoners under the current or future control of the Missouri Department of Corrections who do not believe in a god.” The proposed subclass is “all prisoners under the current or future control of the Missouri Department of Corrections who do not believe in a god who are eligible for substance abuse treatment programs.”

In order to sue on behalf of an entire class, though, there are some legal hurdles you must overcome. For example, you have to prove there really are other people out there just like you.
And that’s where Jackson lost the court.
The same judge who first ruled against Jackson in 2012 has now stopped him from filing a class-action claim. In short, says the judge, there’s just no proof that there are lots of atheists in Missouri prisons who may have to go through religious treatment programs:

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Dan Margolies of KCUR points out that there may be a silver lining:

[U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan Jr.] didn’t slam the door entirely on Jackson, however. He said if Jackson were able to develop evidence supporting numerosity, “the Court may reconsider its position.”

So this ruling is actually a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the ruling in Jackson’s favor doesn’t apply to other atheists in his situation. The reason for that, however, is that there may not be other atheists in his situation.

Judge Says Prisoner Can’t Represent Fellow Atheist Inmates in Class-Action Lawsuit Over Religious Treatment Programs