Four Muslim-identifying inmates are suing the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, alleging that officials at RIDOC’s High Security Center in Cranston have restricted the group’s ability to practice their religion.
The Feb. 13 lawsuit alleges that RIDOC is limiting the inmates’ ability to practice Ramadan — which begins this Friday — receive religious items, meet with a religious leader and engage in communal prayer.
The plaintiffs sought a temporary restraining order to address RIDOC’s alleged violations in advance of Ramadan this year, but the department has agreed to provide Muslim prisoners “appropriate and timely meals during Ramadan,” rendering the urgent need to secure a TRO obsolete, according to ACLU R.I. Executive Director Steven Brown.
Nonetheless, the plaintiffs are still seeking a permanent injunction ordering RIDOC to uphold their regular access to religious items, communal prayer sessions and weekly meetings with an imam.
“As a department we acknowledge and respect the constitutional rights of everyone under our care,” wrote RIDOC Chief of Information and Public Relations Officer Jhomphy Ventura in an email to The Herald.
Ventura did not provide additional comment on the plaintiffs’ allegations, stating that RIDOC is “unable to discuss matters involving ongoing litigation.”
In the suit, the plaintiffs argued that RIDOC’s actions violate the Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act. According to an ACLU press release, this federal law “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 plaintiffs — Diamond Wilson, Karlton Brockman, Nathan Cooper and Lorenzo Hicks — also argued that RIDOC’s actions violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause as officials allow Christian inmates “to have communal services and to regularly see Christian clergy, while denying these same rights to plaintiffs and other Muslim inmates.”
In the suit, the plaintiffs claimed that “RIDOC has never provided them any opportunity to share communal prayers with each other and other Muslim inmates.”
“When Muslim prisoners have tried to gather for prayer in the yard or other common areas, corrections officers have ordered them to stop or face punishment,” the suit alleged.
While RIDOC employs an imam, plaintiffs alleged that their requests to meet with the imam have been repeatedly denied or ignored. They also noted that Christian prisoners “are allowed to see their chaplains weekly, even without submitting an advance request to do so.”
Certain religious items, like prayer rugs, are only available through the imam, meaning that the plaintiffs have not been able to obtain these items, the group added.
The plaintiffs also claimed that they have “filed multiple grievances” regarding the lack of access to an imam and religious items. These “have been unanswered or returned unprocessed,” according to the plaintiffs.
The group further alleged that RIDOC provided only “two meals a day” during last year’s Ramadan without any additional food to make up for missed meals, effectively reducing the inmates’ caloric intake by a third.
The plaintiffs also alleged that RIDOC served meals to inmates at times misaligned with the typical Ramadan schedule, requiring them to “extend their fast by several hours each day.”
Typically, Ramadan observants eat one meal just before dawn and one meal right after sunset. But because RIDOC allegedly delivered pre-dawn meals to inmates between the hours of 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., inmates were forced to begin their fasts “several hours earlier than required by Muslim traditions,” the plaintiffs claimed.
Ramadan also involves communal time for breaking fast and prayer. But the suit alleged that RIDOC prohibited inmates from “breaking their fast together during Ramadan, despite repeated requests.”
Steven Brown noted that the court has scheduled a hearing for the suit mid-March “in case we learn of problems occurring during Ramadan that may require court intervention.”
Avani Ghosh is a Metro editor covering city and state politics. She is a junior from Ohio studying Health and Human Biology and International and Public Affairs. She is an avid earl grey enthusiast and can be found making tea in her free time.
