Bangor, USA - American Indian inmates at Maine State Prison have sued prison officials, alleging that their First Amendment religious rights were abridged because of lack of access to such requirements as a sweat lodge, powwows and ceremonial food and music.
Sacred Feather, Native American Circle and 10 inmates filed the lawsuit this month in U.S. District Court. Officials named as defendants include Warden Jeffrey Merrill and the Rev. Matt Kantrowitz, Protestant chaplain at the maximum security prison in Warren.
A similar lawsuit was filed in 2003 and ended in a settlement agreement that expired two years later and called for an outdoor shelter to be provided for religious ceremonies.
Indian inmates "are proud of who they are and what they believe in," the new lawsuit said, "(and) they are entitled to practice their religion with dignity and with accommodations equal to those afforded to Catholic and Protestant groups."
Denise Lord, associate corrections commissioner, said she was unaware of the latest lawsuit. But she said both sides had agreed that there was no need to renew the previous lawsuit because progress was being made.
"It's our intent," she added, "to continue to work with them to make sure whatever needs or concerns are brought to us are managed in a way that is appropriate in a corrections environment."
The lawsuit said that while Catholic and Protestant inmates can worship privately in the prison chapel, Indians must conduct their smudging ceremonies outside, in between buildings in a heavily trafficked area.
Because of the lack of privacy, the suit said, participants have been subjected to derogatory comments and unwelcome stares.
The lawsuit asks that the prison be required to allow members of the group Sacred Feather, Native American Circle to conduct two smudging ceremonies per week and a pipe ceremony twice a month in a private location.
Other requirements sought by the plaintiffs include a place for religious ceremonies to be held during bad weather, a sweat lodge for monthly ceremonies and permission for members to buy prayer blankets, tribal attire and other religious items that can be kept in their cells.
The suit asks that a portion of funds set aside for religious activities be allocated to Sacred Feather.
The lead plaintiff in the case is Cote Choneska, 26, who was sentenced in 1998 in Penobscot County to 30 years in prison with all but 18 years suspended for shooting a Clifton store owner six times the previous year during a holdup.
A Passamaquoddy, Choneska grew up in Pleasant Point but spent much of his life in foster care and the Maine Youth Center.
Such lawsuits are not unprecedented. In 2005, a federal judge approved new rules to accommodate the religious and cultural needs of Nebraska's American Indian inmates.
Prison officials agreed to allow American Indian inmates to have two powwows a year and to give them time for religious education and worship ceremonies. They also agreed to allow access to medicine men and other spiritual leaders.