Department of Corrections Sued for Failing to Accommodate Religious Rights of Native Americans

When we think about “American religions,” we mostly picture followers of Judaism or Christianity, but one might argue that the original American religion was (and still is) the faith of the indigenous people. These individuals lived in the country before Europeans and other individuals arrived, and they practiced their own faith. Although these traditions were almost extinguished during colonization, they survive to this day. Some Native Americans are still fighting for their rights to practice their faith, and this has manifested in a recent lawsuit faced by the Department of Corrections. 

ACLU Sues Rhode Island Facility for Not Allowing Native Americans to Practice Their Religion

In June of 2025, The Providence Journal reported that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was suing the Department of Corrections. The lawsuit states that three Native American inmates do not have the right to practice their religious beliefs while incarcerated at the Anthony P. Travisono Intake Service Center (ACI). The facility is a maximum-security state prison in Rhode Island, capable of holding about 1100 prisoners. 

Although other state and federal prisons around the country accommodate these religious rights, the ACI reportedly does not. These three plaintiffs have tried to hold communal prayer services and speak with Native American elders for religious guidance. They also attempted to procure religious items, such as medicine bags and dreamcatchers. 

Religious services are often a key aspect of prisons. Even the worst criminals should get access to these services, and this is a tradition that has existed throughout America’s history. However, one might argue that forgiveness and repentance are Christian ideas. As a result, religious services for inmates have historically been Christian-focused. 

Civil Rights Laws Guarantee Religious Freedom

But this is not the case anymore. Today, Civil Rights laws effectively guarantee any inmate access to religious services – whether they’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Buddhist. Providing religious services for one faith but not the other is a classic example of discrimination, and it is illegal under US law. 

In the modern world, the vast majority of American prisons offer faith-based services for Native Americans. As The Providence Journal notes, other Native American inmates get access to pipes, sweat lodges, drumming rituals, and much more. Rhode Island seems to be an outlier in this regard, offering Native American inmates none of these services. 

The ACLU says that this is nothing new, and that Native American prisoners have been complaining about the lack of faith-based services at the ACI for countless years. With all other options exhausted, the plaintiffs felt that they had no option but to sue. 

This comes after a successful lawsuit filed by a Native American inmate who was denied the right to wear a religious headband. The ACLU also helped this individual, and he eventually won a settlement and the right to wear his headband while incarcerated. This shows that slowly but surely, things are changing in Rhode Island. 

Although different Native American tribes have distinct belief systems, most believe in a supreme creator entity. They also tend to believe in life after death, and many tribes have a strong emphasis on the importance of animal spirits.

The Goal of the Universal Life Church’s Blog

Each month, various cases test the nature of religious rights in this country. While the basis for many religious rights is the United States Constitution, there are still countless cases that question the exact nature of these rights. The Universal Life Church’s blog is focused on documenting the most noteworthy of these cases in an objective manner that can be easily understood by readers.