‘Manhood’ class will continue at prison under DOC settlement

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In Brief

• A federal lawsuit settlement allows the “Quest for Authentic Manhood” program to continue at the St. Cloud correctional facility.
• Volunteer instructor Anthony Schmitt alleged the Minnesota Department of Corrections violated his First Amendment rights.
• The Eighth Circuit ruled the DOC likely engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
• The Minnesota DOC agreed to allow the program to continue and pay litigation costs.

The teaching program “Quest for Authentic Manhood” will continue at the Minnesota correctional facility in St. Cloud now that a federal lawsuit alleging free speech violations has been settled.

In 2012, Anthony Schmitt and another man sought to volunteer at the St. Cloud prison to facilitate “The Quest for Authentic Manhood” program. From 2012 to 2023, Schmitt led the voluntary program, stating over 1,000 inmates completed it successfully. The Quest program, created by “Authentic Manhood,” has been offered in churches and prisons nationwide and consists of 24 DVDs, each approximately 45 minutes long. Titles include “Making a Healthy Break with Mom” and “A Man and His Wife.”

In 2018, Quest was reviewed by Charles Sutter, the Statewide Recidivism Reduction Project supervisor. Sutter raised concerns about content in the DVD segment titled “Remembering Dad,” which described homosexuality as an injury.

“This view is not support by research is offensive and close to running afoul of Minnesota’s Human Rights Act,” Sutter wrote. “You should remove this from Quest’s programming.”

Although he agreed with the videos’ sentiment, Schmitt complied by fast-forwarding through the “Remembering Dad” segments the DOC found objectionable. In 2023, Schmitt claimed that he was suddenly prohibited from teaching the class.

In an email in 2024, Jolene Robertus, who is the Minnesota Department of Corrections’ assistant commissioner for Health, Recovery, and Programming, stated that Quest portrays women as submissive in marriage and depicts mothers as controlling and harmful influences. Robertus warned the program reinforces stereotypes that could be dangerous for participants involved in or affected by violence and noted it presents men only as heterosexual seeking relationships and marriage with women.

“Quest teaches participants about manhood through a lens of discrimination, exclusivity, gender biases and stereotypes that not only contradict the DOC’s mission of providing transformational programming, but can be hurtful to participants, their families, and victims,” Robertus wrote.

Schmitt responded by filing a federal lawsuit alleging violation of his First Amendment rights. He was represented by Upper Midwest Law Center and True North Legal.

“DOC officials canceled Anthony Schmitt’s ‘Quest for Authentic Manhood’ program at the St. Cloud correctional facility because, as they said themselves, it is based on biblical Christianity and does not follow the State’s particular DEI religion,” said Upper Midwest Law Center Senior Counsel James Dickey. “Both the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the Constitution forbid this.”

The complaint stated that the DOC’s action directly targeted Schmitt’s beliefs due to his religious views.

“Defendants shut down Schmitt and Quest because Defendants prefer other religious beliefs, and they require adhere to those preferred state-established beliefs in order to offer programming within MCF,” the complaint argued. “Defendants have admitted that they do allow other faith-based programming in MCF, but have singled out Schmitt and Quest for discrimination.”

Schmitt moved for a preliminary injunction, which was denied by the district court. Then Schmitt filed an interlocutory appeal. A divided Eighth Circuit ordered that the preliminary injunction be granted.

“[T]he MDOC objected to Schmitt’s religious viewpoint on mascunility,” wrote Judge Lavenski Smith. “This is viewpoint discrimination.”

“Schmitt seeks to force a prison to reinstate a program — with the prison’s stamp of approval — that the prison concluded was ‘harmful and hinder[ed] the rehibilitation process for incarcerated individuals,” wrote Judge Jane Kelly in her dissent. “Typically, we defer to prison administrators about these things.”

Under the terms of the settlement, Schmitt is permitted to continue to teach the course and speak on topics related to the course. The DOC will also cover the litigation costs.

“This case should never have been necessary,” said Doug Seaton, president of the Upper Midwest Law Center. ”For more than a decade, Quest helped incarcerated men rebuild their lives, strengthen their character, and prepare to return to their families and communities. We are pleased this settlement allows the program to continue.”

“This outcome confirms that religious speech does not lose protection simply because it occurs inside a public institution,” said Wardlow. ”The First Amendment requires government neutrality toward religious viewpoints, not hostility. True North Legal is grateful that Tony Schmitt can continue serving the men at St. Cloud prison.”

The Department of Corrections declined to comment on the settlement.