Latest news with #NativeAmericanChurch
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Miami Herald
Jail health care provider to pay $2.5M in man's death & 5 more legal cases
The summaries below were drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists. Thousands of legal cases reach U.S. courts every year. From accusations of mistreatment in prisons to fraud to sexual abuse and beyond, here are some of the latest from across the country. Attorney helps launder $52M for Sinaloa Cartel using CA companies, feds say In California, Hector Alejandro Paez Garcia, a Mexico City attorney, pleaded guilty to helping the Sinaloa Cartel launder $52.7 million through shell companies in San Diego, according to federal prosecutors. Prosecutors say Paez was a manager of an international money laundering organization and helped funnel millions from the cartel's 'drug trafficking' in the U.S. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 15, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California. | Published June 2 | Read More Native American Church's sacred plants destroyed during raids in CA, suit says A lawsuit in California says the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department seized and destroyed sacred psychoactive plants from a Native American Church affiliate, interfering with religious practices. The church says the raids violated its First Amendment rights and seeks legal recognition to grow and use sacred plants without government interference. The sheriff's department is investigating the church, citing evidence of illegal marijuana cultivation, according to a statement. | Published June 3 | Read More 'Violent' man tried to 'set up' registered sex offenders with kids in WA, feds say In Washington, Alan Lewis Meirhofer, a 'repeat violent sex offender,' was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for sharing child sexual abuse content and attempting to arrange pedophilic relationships, federal prosecutors say. Meirhofer, who was previously detained for 17 years, used online platforms to exploit children and was caught after a mother reported him to police, according to prosecutors. | Published June 3 | Read More Son gets call showing duct-taped dad before he's killed in Baltimore, feds say In Baltimore, Ziyon Thompson was sentenced to over 22 years in prison for his role in the killing of Miguel Soto-Diaz, who federal prosecutors say was lured from California under the guise of discussing a marijuana business. Thompson demanded a ransom from Soto-Diaz's son during a FaceTime call before Soto-Diaz was shot and his body was found in a burning home, according to prosecutors. Thompson pleaded guilty to using a firearm resulting in death during a drug trafficking crime. | Published June 4 | Read More Man lost 2 decades of life in prison due to GA cops faking evidence, suit says Joseph 'Joey' Watkins, who spent two decades in a Georgia prison, filed a federal lawsuit saying police faked evidence to convict him of murder. Watkins' conviction was overturned in 2023, affirming his innocence after years of efforts by his family and the Georgia Innocence Project, according to the lawsuit. Watkins is suing over his wrongful imprisonment, citing violations of his constitutional rights and seeking compensatory and punitive damages. | Published June 5 | Read More Jail staff ignored dying man face-down for days in CA, suit says. Company to pay In Northern California, a federal lawsuit says that jail staff ignored Maurice Monk as he lay face-down for days at the Santa Rita Jail, leading to his death. Wellpath, a major health care provider for jails, has agreed to pay $2.5 million to Monk's children as part of a settlement, according to Monk's family's attorneys. The lawsuit says Monk was denied necessary medical care. | Published June 6 | Read More McClatchy News continues to follow lawsuits and legal cases from around the country. Check back for more legal stories.
Miami Herald
7 days ago
- General
- Miami Herald
Native American Church's sacred plants destroyed during raids in CA, suit says
A Native American Church affiliate in Southern California says a sheriff's department seized and destroyed 'thousands' of psychoactive plants revered as sacred, interfering with members' religious practices. In a lawsuit against the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Shannon Dicus, California Evergreen Farms Native American Church says officers raided the church's place of worship in the Mojave Desert, in violation of their right to practice religion freely, in November and January. Members of the Native American Church, as part of centuries of spiritual tradition among Indigenous people, use 'sacred plant medicines such as peyote, cannabis, and other entheogenic sacraments,' according to the lawsuit, which was moved to federal court on May 21. The use of peyote and cannabis as entheogens, psychoactive substances used religiously and ceremoniously, are 'essential to (the Native American Church's) worship,' a complaint says. 'This case is about protecting the constitutional right to religious freedom — specifically, the right of sincere minority faiths to practice their sacrament without government interference,' attorney Daniel S. Miller, who is representing the case, said in a statement to McClatchy News on June 2. The sheriff's department is actively investigating the church after responding to the church's site in November and January, public information officer Mara Rodriguez said to McClatchy News on June 2. The department said in a statement that an investigation 'resulted in evidence of criminal activity associated with an illegal marijuana cultivation operation where multiple arrests were made, and additional evidence was seized.' The agency didn't comment on the lawsuit, which accuses it of intimidating church members and failing to recognize their sincerely held religious beliefs, in violation of the First Amendment. For Indigenous people in North America, the Native American Church is 'the most widespread religious movement,' the Associated Press reported in December. California Evergreen Farms Native American Church was founded as a non-profit by James Mooney, who is named as a plaintiff in the case, as a local offshoot of the national organization in Oro Grande, about a 100-mile drive northeast from Los Angeles. Mooney is described in the lawsuit as a 'medicine man' and 'war chief' of the Seminole tribe. The complaint says he's previously fought for the legal right to use sacramental plant medicines religiously. With the raids of the church's property in November and January, the complaint argues the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department 'instilled fear among members, discouraging attendance at religious gatherings and violating their ability to freely exercise their faith.' The agency is also accused of wrongly obtaining warrants to support the raids. Specifically, the filing says the agency obtained warrants without informing the court that it was searching property belonging to a church. This would've required the court to appoint a 'special master,' the complaint says. 'The raids not only deprived (California Evergreen Farms Native American Church) of a core sacrament but also intimidated and deterred participation in religious ceremonies, chilling their First Amendment rights,' Miller wrote in the filing. The church asks the court to declare and recognize its legal right to grow and use sacred plants, including marijuana, for religious reasons without the government interfering. The church also seeks an injunction to ban future 'raids, code enforcement actions, civil and/or criminal claims' against the church 'or its members.' Miller told McClatchy News the case is 'in line with recent federal decisions,' pointing to Jensen v. Utah County, in which he said a preliminary injunction 'affirmed that unfamiliar religions deserve equal protection under the law.' 'We're hopeful this case will reinforce a growing legal consensus: that the free exercise of religion includes sincere, sacramental use of entheogens, and that outdated drug laws cannot override constitutional protections,' Miller said.
