This story was originally published at Rhode Island Current.
Christopher Shea
Rhode Island Current
Five Native American men being held in maximum security at Rhode Island’s Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston claim state prison officials have repeatedly denied their ability to practice their religion.
Which is why they’re now suing the Rhode Island Department of Corrections in U.S. District Court in Providence in order to hold pipe ceremonies, sweat lodge ceremonies, smudging ceremonies, drum circles and powwows.
The 38-page complaint was filed Feb. 11 on behalf of Jaquontee Reels, Anthony Moore, Louis Seignious, Craig Robinson, and Wallace Cable by the ACLU of Rhode Island and the Roger Williams University (RWU) School of Law Prisoners’ Rights Litigation Clinic.
It’s the third lawsuit in as many years that the organizations have jointly filed against the state, challenging policies that restrict faith practices for Indigenous prisoners.
“Prisons around the country accommodate all the traditional practices these prisoners are asking for, but Rhode Island continues to deny them,” Jared Goldstein, director of the RWU Law legal clinic, said in a statement. “This has got to stop.”
Each of the five men held in max-security filed grievances to challenge the lack of approved religious services and religious items for Native Americans, only for their challenges to be denied or ignored, according to the lawsuit.
“Again and again, plaintiffs have asked RIDOC officials for permission to obtain Native American religious items, engage in Native American ceremonies, and obtain guidance from a Native American elder, but defendants have turned away all of those requests,” the lawsuit states.
Some of those grievances surfaced after state prison officials agreed to settle a 2024 lawsuit and allow a man serving a life sentence at the ACI to wear a White Mountain Apache Tribe headband. The lawsuit had been filed in response to the Department of Corrections denial of the man’s requests.
The settlement reached April 30, 2025, tasked the department with establishing a way for prisoners whose religions are not explicitly recognized by the prison to request approval for religious items and services consistent with their beliefs within 120 days.
But the state still “has adopted no policies,” according to the newest lawsuit.
“Even after two other lawsuits, RIDOC continues to disregard the rights of incarcerated Native American people,” Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, said in a statement. “Even in prison, freedom of religion remains a fundamental right, and we will continue to work to prevent the suppression of that right at the ACI.”
J.R. Ventura, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections, declined to comment citing the pending litigation. As of Friday, Ventura noted there were 24 inmates whose race/ethnicity is listed as “American Indian” in the department’s custody, representing 1 percent of the total prison population.
The Indigenous prisoners are permitted to practice their religion — just only within the confines of their individual cells, according to the complaint.
By denying their requests for communal prayer and celebrations, the lawsuit claims the Department of Corrections violated the prisoners’ right to the free exercise of religion as protected by the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
The five plaintiffs are seeking a court order requiring the state’s prison system to accommodate all prisoners’ religious beliefs.
The case is assigned to Judge Melissa DuBose, who is also overseeing a 2025 lawsuit filed on behalf of three prisoners who similarly claim state prison officials have denied requests to hold religious ceremonies, such as powwows. A hearing on that case is scheduled for March 4.
The post Rhode Island ACLU files another lawsuit over denial of Native American prisoners’ religious rights appeared first on ICT.
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