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SD Officials, Inmates Group Adjust Ceremonial Tobacco Policy

Associated Press0

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Attorneys for the South Dakota Department of Corrections and an organization of Native American inmates have agreed to some policy changes making it easier to get tobacco into the state penitentiary for inmates practicing Lakota religious ceremonies.

U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier ruled in 2012 that the prison system’s ban on tobacco in ceremonies substantially burdened Native American inmates’ religious rights and ordered the parties to come up with a less restrictive policy.

Under the original agreement, tobacco mixtures had to be provided by volunteers approved by the Department of Corrections.

An order amended last week allows Native American inmates to purchase tobacco from a downtown Sioux Falls smoke shop and have it shipped directly to the prison, where it can be mixed by designated department staff.

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