A prominent faith-based prisoner rehabilitation program funded by the state of Iowa is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state, a federal judge has ruled.

The Washington Post reported June 3 that U.S. District Judge Robert W. Pratt said that the InnerChange program run by Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries was pervasively sectarian and aimed at religious conversion.

"The overtly religious atmosphere of the InnerChange program is not simply an overlay or secondary effect of the program -- it is the program," Pratt wrote. "Though an inmate could, theoretically, graduate from InnerChange without converting to Christianity, the coercive nature of the program demands obedience to its dogmas and doctrine."

Pratt said that while inmates entered the program voluntarily, those who did received significant benefits for participating, including better living conditions. He also noted that the Iowa prison did not offer a secular or non-Christian program as an alternative.

"Not only is it a disappointing decision, but at first blush it's an extreme and bizarre decision," said former Virginia attorney general Mark Earley, now president of Prison Fellowship Ministries. "[The judge] seems to be saying that our program could not occur within prison walls even if it were entirely privately funded, and if that's the case, it calls into question a lot of the religious programs in prisons today."

The Iowa Department of Corrections has 60 days to disband the program, and Pratt ordered Prison Fellowship Ministries to pay back $1.5 million to the state, although an appeal is expected.

Experts said that the ruling could influence other judges nationally considering the legality of other faith-based programs. "If the reasoning of this decision is held to apply in future cases, there is no way you can use government funds for so-called 'transformational' programs that are really saying, 'To deal with your sins you have to embrace Jesus,' " said Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "In the distance, one can hear the bells tolling deep trouble for the faith-based initiative."