Rhode Island prisoners sue over denied Native religious practices

Three Indigenous prisoners filed a lawsuit against the Rhode Island Department of Corrections on June 13 in U.S. District Court in Providence, claiming officials denied their requests to hold religious ceremonies, consult with a Native elder and access traditional items, such as medicine bags and dreamcatchers, according to Rhode Island Current.

Filed by the ACLU of Rhode Island and the Roger Williams University School of Law Prisoners’ Rights Litigation Clinic on behalf of Tyler Smith, Kyle Moreino and Joseph Shepard, the lawsuit alleges violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The suit follows an earlier case settled in April that allowed another Indigenous prisoner to wear a headband linked to his faith. The ACLU claims corrections officials have not adopted new policies since that settlement, according to reporting by Rhode Island Current.