Judge: SD prison tobacco ban substantially burdens Native American inmates’ religious rights
By Associated Press, Published: September 19
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the South Dakota prison system’s ban on tobacco in religious ceremonies substantially burdens Native American inmates’ religious rights.
Chief Judge Karen Schreier ruled that even if state officials had asserted a compelling governmental interest, they did not prove that the complete ban was the least restrictive means available to further that governmental interest.
Schreier said in her ruling that inmates and officials should meet and propose an appropriate, narrowly tailored injunction, which should include revisions to the tobacco policy for inmates practicing the Lakota religion. She cited cases involving prisons in Missouri, Texas and Pennsylvania that allowed their inmates to use tobacco for religious purposes in ceremonies.
“This widespread allowance of tobacco in prisons lends substantial credence to plaintiffs’ position that less restrictive alternatives to a complete ban on the use of tobacco in Lakota religious ceremonies is possible,” Schreier wrote.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/judge-sd-prison-tobacco-ban-substantially-burdens-native-american-inmates-religious-rights/2012/09/19/a5845284-02cd-11e2-9132-f2750cd65f97_story.html