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No Immunity for Sweat Lodge Denial
Loaded on Feb. 15, 1995
published in Prison Legal News
February, 1995, page 20
Ralph Thomas is a Nebraska state prisoner. He filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming that prison officials had violated his right to religious freedom by denying him daily access to the prisons sweat lodge for prayer. He claimed this denial also violated his right to equal protection because …
Filed under:
Appeals,
Qualified Immunity,
Religious Freedom,
Religious Practices.
Location:
Nebraska.
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More from this issue:
- Contract With America = Contract on Prisoners, by Paul Wright
- From The Editor, by Paul Wright
- FL DOC Industries Fined
- Immigration Detainees Rebel
- PA Limits Suits Against Defense Attorneys, by Dale Gardner
- Visitor Search Held Illegal
- No Immunity for Visitor Strip Search
- Brutality Protested
- AZ Passes Repressive Prison Laws
- Fear and Loathing in California, by Willie Wisely
- News in Brief
- Revolutionary Literature at Half-Price
- Rikers Island Detainees in Struggle
- OR Voters Pass New Prison Laws
- Texas DOC to Ban Tobacco Use
- Unconstitutional Jail Conditions Don't Need to be Relitigated
- CT Phone Suit Filed
- Former TX Parole Board Chairman Sentenced
- No Interlocutory Appeal From Judgement
- S.Ct. Revokes Review
- Speeding Cop Loses Job
- Settlements and Jury Awards
- Prisoner Raped by Custodians
- Exposure to Cold Illegal, Rectal Search Upheld
- 9th Cir Reverses Dismissal of Publisher Only Rule
- Guard Sues Over Discrimination Order
- Prisoners Entitled to Free Legal Mail Postage
- Damage Awards Can be Used for Restitution
- NC Consent Decree Modified
- WA DOC Sanctioned in Grievance Mail Case
- OK Prisoners Have Disciplinary Hearing Remedy
- MS Jail Officials Held in Contempt
- CDC Must Establish Hobby Program
- Contempt Finding Reversed
- Tight Handcuffs State Claim
- No Immunity for Sweat Lodge Denial
More from these topics:
- Eight Circuit Reverses Denial of Partial Qualified Immunity in Detainee’s Pepper Ball Claim, Remands Excessive Force Claims, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Stun Guns/Tasers, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Qualified Immunity, Wrongful Use of Force.
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity in Strip Searches Resulting from Anonymous Tips, Sept. 1, 2026. Strip Searches, Qualified Immunity, Fourth Amendment, rights, Suspicionless Searches.
- Ninth Circuit Revives HRDC Challenge to Washington DOC Mail Restrictions, Aug. 1, 2026. Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, First Amendment, rights.
- Detroit Pays $5.8 Million to Former State Prisoner Exonerated of Murder After 15 Years, Aug. 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, Qualified Immunity, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Eyewitness Identification, Evidence - Failure to Disclose.
- Colorado Pays $245,000 to Muslim Former Prisoner Shaved by Same Guard Who Cost DOC Earlier Settlement with Jewish Prisoner Denied Kosher Meals, Aug. 1, 2026. Religious Discrimination, Overdetention, Religious Diet, Religious Practices, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified.
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Governor Unentitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity on Claim Related to DOC Religious Policies, Aug. 1, 2026. Sovereign Immunity, Religious Practices, Religious Property, First Amendment, rights, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
- Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Detectives Who Revealed Prisoner Was Informant, Denies Him Anonymity, Aug. 1, 2026. Failure to Protect (General), Physical Injury Rule, Qualified Immunity, Informants (Failure to Protect), 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of State-Law Qualified Immunity in Scabies Case, Aug. 1, 2026. Corizon, Systemic Medical Neglect, Contagious Disease -- Misc., Qualified Immunity, Deliberate Indifference.
- Fourth Circuit Revives Disabled Prisoner’s Claim for Denial of Out-of-Cell Exercise Time, Aug. 1, 2026. Totality of Conditions, Eighth Amendment, Exercise, Summary Judgment, Qualified Immunity.
- Oregon Reaches $49 Million Settlement with State Prisoners in COVID-19 Class-Action, Aug. 1, 2026. COVID-19, Eighth Amendment, Settlements, Class Certification, Qualified Immunity.

