A federal judge has ordered the Kentucky State Penitentiary to allow a group of death row inmates to hold an annual powwow with traditional foods after the prison chaplain tried to stop the ceremony.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell on Tuesday concluded that the inmates would suffer irreparable harm if they weren't allowed to buy special foods for the ritual.
A prison chaplain last month postponed the powwow until October because a Native American volunteer who works with the condemned inmates wouldn't be available on Friday, the ceremony's original scheduled date.
The inmates sought to purchase buffalo, corn pemmican and fry bread.
An appeals court reinstated a lawsuit in August saying the inmates should have the opportunity to show they have the right to conduct Native American religious ceremonies.
