On October 25, 1977, Indian prisoners in the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California, filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The plaintiffs, represented by the Native American Rights Fund and California Indian Legal Services, asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages, alleging that the defendants had violated their constitutional rights by refusing to allow them to have an Indian sweat lodge at the prison.

On April 16, 1979, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ordered the defendants to allow the plaintiffs access to a sweat lodge. We have no further information on the proceedings in this case.

Kristen Sagar - 09/10/2006


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