A lawsuit filed today by attorneys for the RWU Prisoners’ Rights Clinic and the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island challenges the R.I. Department of Corrections’ (RIDOC) restrictive policies governing the religious freedom of Muslims incarcerated at the ACI, including significant constraints on their ability to observe Ramadan, which is approaching in two weeks. The suit seeks a temporary restraining order to “urgently address the conditions” that the prisoners face in observing Ramadan.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of four Muslims at the ACI’s High Security Center (HSC), also alleges that RIDOC’s actions in several other distinct areas violate federal law by imposing a substantial burden on their right to practice their religion and by discriminating against them when compared to the religious accommodations provided to Christian prisoners. In particular, the suit alleges that:
- RIDOC does not allow Muslims at HSC to hold communal prayer even though Christian prisoners at the facility are allowed to congregate and pray together.
- RIDOC denies Muslims in HSC regular access to an imam, a Muslim spiritual leader, which “contrasts with the treatment of prisoners of different faiths, including Christian prisoners, who are . . . allowed to see their chaplains weekly.”
- RIDOC has denied Muslims in HSC access to various religious items, including prayer rugs and prayer cloths.
Regarding the observance of Ramadan, the suit argues that RIDOC has prevented Muslims in HSC from properly observing the holiday, a holy month which requires them to refrain from eating food and drinking water during daylight hours, and to instead eat a pre-dawn meal and break their fast at sunset. The lawsuit claims that last year, RIDOC required Muslim prisoners to eat their breakfast between 2 and 3 AM; repeatedly served their evening meals late; failed to provide them adequate nutrition with skimpy evening meals after not having had any lunch; and interfered with their ability to break the fast communally.
The lawsuit, filed by Jared Goldstein, Director of the RWU Prisoners’ Rights Clinic, and ACLU of RI cooperating attorney Lynette Labinger, argues that RIDOC has violated the plaintiffs’ right to the free exercise of religion as protected by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law that bars states from imposing any substantial burden on a prisoner’s exercise of religion unless it furthers a compelling interest and is the least restrictive means available. The suit also alleges a violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws by treating Muslim prisoners less favorably than those of Christian prisoners.
The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring that the plaintiffs be allowed to “engage in communal prayer with other Muslims, to be able to meet with an imam at least weekly, to observe Ramadan, and to obtain religious items.” Because Ramadan starts in two weeks, the attorneys are seeking a temporary restraining order to address RIDOC’s violations in that regard.
A copy of the complaint can be found here.
Last year, the two groups filed another ACI religious freedom lawsuit, that one on behalf of a Native American prisoner who had been denied access to items he needed to practice his religion. That case remains pending.
