Summary
Jim Carmack, while director of the Denver Rescue Mission, accepted a parolee, Mark Janny, to be a resident as a favor to a parole officer because Janny needed a residence and had no other place to stay. The Mission’s free programs are designed to change lives in the name of Christ by sharing the Gospel and meeting the material and spiritual needs of vulnerable people. As with any Mission resident, Janny was required to participate in a program that combined religion, training, and case management. Janny, an atheist, objected to the religious components and refused to participate in them, thereby disqualifying himself from the program. After Carmack released him from the program, and he returned to jail, he sued Carmack over the requirement to participate in religious program components.
