Latest news with #Pawochawog-Mequinosh
Miami Herald
09-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Prison can't stop Indigenous man from wearing religious headband, RI judge rules
A prison that denied an Indigenous inmate's request to wear a religious headband four times will now have to let him wear it and update its policies regarding similar requests, a Rhode Island judge ruled. A complaint filed in January 2024 argued that the Rhode Island Department of Corrections violated the religious rights of Wolf Pawochawog-Mequinosh, who is incarcerated at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston. More than a year after the complaint was filed, a judge has ruled that the prison can't stop Pawochawog-Mequinosh from wearing the headband, according to an April 30 settlement agreement. RIDOC officials emphasized the importance of restrictions around religious items for security purposes while expressing their support for the agreement in a May 6 statement provided to McClatchy News. 'I am pleased we were able to work with our counterparts to resolve this matter in way that both acknowledges the constitutional rights of our population and preserves our efforts to maintain safety in our secure facilities,' RIDOC Director Wayne T. Salisbury Jr. said in the statement. Religious exemption requests denied Pawochawog-Mequinosh, who was raised in the White Mountain Apache Tribe tradition, began trying to get permission to wear a traditional religious cloth headband that expresses 'his Apache faith and the unity of the tribe and spirits' in 2019, according to the complaint. While the Federal Bureau of Prisons recognizes Native American headbands as religious items, the state-run prison in Rhode Island did not, and denied Pawochawog-Mequinosh's requests on four separate occasions, the complaint said. '(RIDOC's) denial of Wolf's requests to obtain and wear an Apache headband has caused Wolf severe daily distress, as he is unable to express his religious traditions and beliefs as he sincerely understands them,' attorneys said. What made it especially difficult for Pawochawog-Mequinosh is that on multiple occasions when corresponding with officials about his request, he would be asked to choose between religious practices because his particular tradition was not recognized in the prison's system, according to the complaint. In the prison's system, Pawochawog-Mequinosh's religious designation was listed as 'Pagan/Wiccan' which he had chosen as the closest fit to his beliefs based on advice from the RIDOC counselor, according to the complaint. The system did not include a 'Native American' religious designation. In choosing this designation, he was able to get significant religious items, like tarot cards and rune stones, and attend religious ceremonies consistent with the White Mountain Apache Tribe tradition, but wearing an Apache headband was not permitted, attorneys said. On multiple requests, RIDOC officials used his religious designation to justify denying him the right to obtain and wear a headband, according to the complaint. Religious rights upheld In April, the court sided with Pawochawog-Mequinosh by ruling that the prison must allow him to both wear the religious headband and retain access to religious items he was already using, according to the settlement. The judge also gave the RIDOC a 120-day deadline to implement procedures for inmates in similar situations whose religion isn't identified in the system, according to the settlement. The prison system also has to pay $40,000 in attorneys' fees to Pawochawog-Mequinosh's legal council. Cranston is about a five-mile drive southwest from Providence.
Boston Globe
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Native American inmate secures right to wear religious Apache headband in settlement with R.I. prisons
Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up 'This case reflects a fundamental principle: People in prison may lose their liberty but they cannot be deprived of their humanity, and the free exercise of religion is a basic human right,' Jared Goldstein, director of the litigation clinic, said in a statement. Related : Advertisement According to the lawsuit, Pawochawog-Mequinosh was raised in the spiritual tradition of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, and the headband 'expresses his sincere religious beliefs arising from the Apache tradition.' While Muslim and Jewish prisoners were allowed to wear kufis and yarmulkes, the Department of Corrections 'had repeatedly denied Wolf's requests for a headband on the grounds that his religion was designated as 'Pagan/Wiccan' in RIDOC's data management system,' the ACLU said. Advertisement 'RIDOC's system does not include a religious designation for adherents of Native American religious traditions,' the ACLU said. The lawsuit was filed under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 'which 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 ACLU said. In a statement, the state Department of Corrections said the settlement 'will result in the dismissal' of the lawsuit with 'no fault attributed to RIDOC.' 'The wearing of headbands and access to various religious items without reasonable and legally permissible limitations raises several security concerns with RIDOC's facilities, as these items can be repurposed in ways that could present a safety risk to staff and the incarcerated population,' the department said. 'However, an agreement was reached which allows RIDOC to maintain security and minimize safety risks while permitting the Plaintiff to wear an approved headband and access approved items in accordance with his religious beliefs and applicable policies.' Department of Corrections Director Wayne T. Salisbury Jr. said the agency believes in 'maintaining a constitutional and balanced approach to security when enacting protocols and procedures.' 'I am pleased we were able to work with our counterparts to resolve this matter in a way that both acknowledges the constitutional rights of our population and preserves our efforts to maintain safety in our secure facilities,' Salisbury said in a statement. Pawochawog-Mequinosh was formerly known as Brian Brownell and legally changed his name in 2022, according to the ACLU. Pawochawog-Mequinosh received his name from an Apache elder when he was a child, and 'changing his legal name was important to him because it connected him to his 'spirituality, religion, and history,'' the organization said. Advertisement Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man serving life at ACI can wear Apache headband after court settlement
The John J. Moran Medium Security Facility at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, where Wolf Pawochawog-Mequinosh is serving a life sentence. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) Rhode Island's Department of Corrections has agreed to let an Indigenous man incarcerated at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) in Cranston wear a headband reflecting the religious practices of his tribe. That largely resolves a federal lawsuit filed in January 2024 by the ACLU of Rhode Island and the Roger Williams University (RWU) School of Law Prisoners' Rights Litigation Clinic. The suit accused the state prison system of violating inmate Wolf Pawochawog-Mequinosh's right to freely exercise his religion under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. An example of a headband attached in the settlement agreement. (Screenshot) Pawochawog-Mequinosh and the state reached the agreement on April 30. Under the terms, the Department of Corrections will cover the $40,000 in legal fees and $405 in costs to the plaintiff's lawyers, Jared Goldstein, director of the RWU Law legal clinic and ACLU cooperating attorney Lynette Labinger. Pawochawog-Mequinosh, who is serving a life sentence at the ACI for two first-degree sexual assault convictions, sued the department in January 2024 after he claimed prisonadministrators repeatedly denied his request to wear a White Mountain Apache Tribe headband. Formerly known as Brian Brownell of Tiverton, he was sentenced in August 2023. Prison officials denied the requests because his religion is designated as 'Pagan/Wiccan' in the department's data management system. The Department of Corrections did not offer a religious designation for those who follow Native American religious traditions, according to the lawsuit. The settlement gives the Department of Corrections 120 days to establish a way for inmates whose religions are not explicitly recognized by the prison to request approval for religious items and services consistent with their beliefs. The ACLU and the RWU Law legal clinic will have up to 30 days to determine if the settlement terms have been fulfilled. 'This case reflects a fundamental principle: People in prison may lose their liberty but they cannot be deprived of their humanity, and the free exercise of religion is a basic human right,' Goldstein said in a statement Wednesday. Department of Corrections spokesperson J.R. Ventura did not immediately respond to request for comment. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
