Rockland county jail to hire imam following chaplain's distribution of anti-Islam tracts

Suzan Clarke of the Lower Hudson Journal News continues her coverage of accusations that Rockland County Jail Chaplain Teresa Darden Clapp distributed tracts offensive to Muslim prisoners. It was announced that an Islamic cleric, or imam, will be hired to serve at the jail:

The imam would work one day per week, and additionally as needed for special cases. Those are the same terms governing the way a rabbi and a priest are currently contracted to work at the jail, Undersheriff Thomas Guthrie said today.

Teresa Darden Clapp, an ordained Christian minister and the jail's chaplain, was suspended last month for passing out religious cartoon booklets that condemned Islam and contained derogatory depictions and descriptions of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.

Since the incident, local Muslims have met with jail officials to discuss their concerns about the tract incident. They also alleged that when they tried to come to the jail to minister to inmates, they were treated unfairly by Clapp.

The county has ordered an independent investigation into Clapp's actions.

Jail officials ordered the tracts removed when the learned of the incident through an inmate's complaints.