Attorneys for the ACLU and the RWU Law Prisoners' Rights Clinic are suing the Rhode Island Department of Corrections over its refusal to accommodate the religious practices of Native American prisoners.
The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of five prisoners of Native American ancestry housed at the ACI's maximum security facility.
The complaint argues that RIDOC has refused to accommodate a number of religious practices that Native Americans are routinely allowed to practice in federal and state prisons across the country.
The practices include the right to hold religious ceremonies, possess religious items like headbands and dreamcatchers and to be given a diet consistent with their religious beliefs.
The ACLU says this is the third time in as many years that ACI has been sued for disregarding the rights of incarcerated Native Americans.
(Photo: ACLU Rhode Island)