ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 10, 1997 TAG: 9704100007
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE THE ROANOKE TIMES
A federal judge in Roanoke didn't question the sincerity of two inmates' religious beliefs, but he ruled against them on other grounds.
Two inmates have lost their fight to force a Virginia prison to let them hold American Indian sweat lodge ceremonies and observe other religious rituals.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson ruled that the two prisoners did not provide evidence to refute the state's claim that the Keen Mountain Correctional Center in Buchanan County tried to accommodate their religious beliefs. He ruled in the state's favor before trial.
Randal "Lone Wolf" Mullins and William "Two Eagles" Martin sued after Mullins said prison officials denied every request he made between 1990 and 1995 to hold religious ceremonies. They claimed their constitutional rights had been violated and invoked the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
After Mullins' initial requests, state prison officials drafted a memorandum outlining policy for American Indian religious practices, including allowing inmates to build sweat lodges on prison grounds. But Mullins said his requests continued to be denied and he was never allowed to build a sweat lodge.
A sweat lodge - a temporary, tentlike structure - is fashioned out of willows and covered with blankets, hides or canvas to hold in heat. A fire pit is built outside, and heated rocks are carried into the lodge, with water sprinkled on them to create a sauna effect. Participants share communal prayer or use the lodge for healing purposes.
Such a lodge is akin to a Christian's church, according to a Monacan tribe spiritual leader. They have been allowed in federal prisons for years.
The inmates' lawsuit asked for sweat lodge ceremonies four times a year, weekly outdoor tobacco and peace pipe ceremonies, and permission to keep peace pipes in their cells.
Wilson ruled that Mullins and Martin "rejected every effort that the defendants made to accommodate [their] religious beliefs" and refused to acknowledge "obvious security concerns."
He also ruled that much of Mullins and Martin's case was moot because both were transferred from Keen Mountain to other prisons, apparently for unrelated reasons. Mullins, who was serving time for bank robbery and writing bad checks, recently was released from prison. Martin remains in prison.
Prison officials had claimed that Mullins and Martin were not sincere in their religious beliefs. But the inmates submitted affidavits that their beliefs were sincere, and Wilson said he could not find in the state's favor on those grounds.
In response to the suit, Attorney General Jim Gilmore's office argued that the religious freedom law was unconstitutional, prompting the U.S. Justice Department to become involved in the case to defend the law. Almost every religious group in the country supported the religious freedom law, which sought to re-establish rights that Congress believed had been weakened by an earlier Supreme Court decision. The law says government must show a "compelling interest" when infringing on a person's religious rights.
Among the few groups to oppose the law when it passed in 1993 were prison officials, who feared prisoners would use it to try to dictate prison operations. The overwhelming majority of lawsuits filed under the act are by prisoners.
Federal courts have been split on the law's constitutionality, and the Supreme Court last fall agreed to hear a case on the issue. Wilson avoided the question of the law's constitutionality, however, because he ruled against the inmates on other grounds.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB