Settlement Protects Religious Rights For Hawaiian Prisoners
The lawsuit sought to ensure Native Hawaiians being held in an Arizona prison could engage in customary religious practices.
A group of Native Hawaiian prisoners at the Saguaro Correctional Center filed a class-action lawsuit in 2011, alleging a violation of their religious rights.
By Rui Kaneya / February 6, 2017
The federal court has approved a final settlement in a landmark lawsuit over the religious rights of Native Hawaiian prisoners at the Saguaro Correctional Center, an Arizona prison where about 1,700 Hawaii prisoners are housed.
The settlement, approved Monday by U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi, ends a legal odyssey that has lasted for nearly six years.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in March 2011 by eight Native Hawaiian prisoners at Saguaro, a for-profit prison owned and operated by CoreCivic, formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America.
The prisoners alleged that CoreCivic officials violated their constitutional rights by denying them free exercise of their Native Hawaiian religious practices — such as gathering for daily outdoor worship.
http://www.civilbeat.org/2017/02/settlement-protects-religious-rights-for-hawaiian-prisoners/