Published: August 26, 2008 11:06 am      

Sex offender in W.Va. pen wants special privileges related to Native American belief system

CHARLESTON — A Mingo County man serving time on sex charges claims the state is trampling on his right to practice aspects of his Native American belief system.



After a slew of grievances filed against the state Division of Corrections and at least one case still pending in federal court, Bobby Eugene Roddy is now asking the state Supreme Court to order the prison system into compliance.



Roddy, 42, who also goes by the spiritual name "Running Cougar," has a long list of things he wants the state to provide him and other practitioners of Native American spirituality.



According to his complaint, Roddy wants the state to build "sweat lodges" for purification; allow practitioners to wear their hair long and adorn themselves with other ornamentation, including moccasins, "chokers" and bandannas; keep prayer pipes in their possession; be able to order special foods; be visited regularly by a member of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs; and to have four religious feasts a year.



He also wants the prison libraries to be stocked with books on Native American religion. Roddy alleges that by including only Christian and Muslim literature, the division is trying to force these beliefs on him.



For his trouble, Roddy also wants compensated: $1,400 for each alleged violation. He wants half the award put in a fund to pay for spiritual items used by other practitioners throughout the prison system, according to his complaint.



State Supreme Court justices are scheduled to consider Roddy's petition next week.



Jim Rubenstein, corrections commissioner, says the division has its reasons for denying some of Roddy's requests. But Rubenstein contends the state is not inhibiting Roddy from practicing his beliefs.



"It is the policy of (the agency) to maintain a mechanism that ensures a range of religious services and programs and the opportunity for members of the inmate population to pursue individual religious beliefs and practices as is consistent with the maintenance of security and good order of the institutions," Rubenstein said.



He added, "No inmate will be compelled to become involved in any religious program or activity. Corrections and contract employees may not proselytize or criticize the religious beliefs of others within the grounds of any facility."



Rubenstein said the division purchases the necessary items for inmates to worship and practice his or her religion.



Despite a system-wide smoking ban, Roddy and other practitioners are allowed to use tobacco for prayer pipe services or "smudging" ceremonies, according to corrections policy.



Those are the only Native American spiritual practices addressed in the policy, officials said.



Smudging involves letting tobacco, cedar, kinnikinick or sweet-grass to smolder, and the smoke is waved toward the heart and over the head to dispose of negative energies.



A prison chaplain designates the place where the ceremonies can be conducted once a week. Roddy insists on two ceremonies a week. The chaplain also designates a place where the inmate can store the prayer pipe, which isn't to exceed 14 inches in length.



Roddy said in his hand-written complaint that he should be allowed to keep the pipe in his possession so as to not be "desecrated" by the chaplains or the wardens.



In January, Teresa Waid, the warden at Huttonsville Correctional Center where Roddy was housed at the time he wrote the complaint, denied a few of Roddy's requests outright for security reasons.



Roddy is now housed in the Mount Olive Correctional Center.



As far as the feasts, Waid said all Roddy had to do was make a request to the chaplain, according to court documents.



Waid denied the request for the sweat lodge because of how they are constructed. The lodges are basically enclosed domes in which rocks are heated. The practitioner sits inside and sweats profusely for purification.



"A structure such as this would create security concerns," Waid told Roddy. "Inmates would not be observable and it would be an unreasonable risk to station an office inside to monitor activity."



Waid also said Roddy could not rightfully conduct a sweat lodge ceremony on his own because he is not a tribal elder nor had he been appointed to conduct the ceremonies.



Roddy could not grow a kouplock -- which is a two-inch square of hair at the base of the skull -- or wear his hair long. Waid said growing long hair goes against the division's grooming policy. Long hair can be used to conceal weapons, Waid said.



It also be easy for a longhaired inmate to alter their appearance if they escaped by simply cutting off their hair. The grooming policy is also important to prevent inmates from expressing gang affiliation, Waid said.



Waid added that this request isn't a fundamental aspect of the religion and challenged Roddy to prove otherwise.



Roddy also wanted to use his spiritual name -- Running Cougar -- on his outgoing mail, but was denied.



Roddy pleaded guilty to two counts of child sexual abuse by a parent in Mingo. He's up for a parole hearing next year and is scheduled for release from prison in 2014, according to the division's Web site.