WA may end mandatory sentencing points based on juvenile convictions

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Comment: Counting juvenile crimes against adults unjust to many

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Washington lawmakers debate who benefits from juvenile sentencing reforms

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Prosecutor: Sentencing agreement in 1988 double homicide was 'hardest decision'

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Undoing a Life Sentence

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Prison powwows in Washington state restart after a 2-year break because of COVID

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Native inmates in Washington happy to see prison powwows return

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Powwows return to Washington's prisons

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UN Adopts Huy’s Indigenous Prisoner Religious Rights Findings

On Tuesday, October 25, 2022, the final report of Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, in his capacity as UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, was presented at the UN General Assembly in New York.

According to Dr. Shaheed, this report on Indigenous peoples and the right to freedom of religion or belief “is the first time that the UN human rights system has comprehensively engaged with this important yet historically overlooked subject.”

He hopes “that it represents the beginning of a conversation on how to better promote and protect this fundamental right of indigenous peoples worldwide.”

In July 2022, Huy submitted a report to Dr. Shaheed addressing Indigenous prisoners’ religious freedoms in the United States of America. In his final report to the UN General Assembly, Dr. Shaheed cited Huy’s submission:

Interlocutors report that indigenous peoples' overrepresentation in criminal justice processes globally frequently affects their ability to exercise spirituality. Banning indigenous spiritual practices in prisons—including sweat-lodge, pipe and drum ceremonies, growing of long hair, and "smudging"—may hinder traditional healing, intergenerational transfer of knowledge, rehabilitation, and "cultural survival" upon release. 

Additionally, Dr. Shaheed’s recommendations for states include, first and foremost:

Establish legal and policy frameworks that recognize the right of indigenous peoples to their beliefs and comprehensively promote and protect their rights—drawing on UNDRIP specifically—including freedom of religion or belief. To this end, regularly review and revise such frameworks to tackle discrimination, undue restrictions on spiritual manifestations, and impediments to access and use of their lands.

 Huy’s report was prepared by pro bono counsel, Akilah Kinnison, of Hobbs Straus Dean & Walker.

Powwow for Indigenous prisoners in Walla Walla provides an opportunity for healing

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Lawyer: Wash. ruling in Black man’s case showed racial bias

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Washington State Penitentiary Powwow (Video)

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Indigenous Prisoners Hold First Powwow Since 2019

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Indigenous prisoner religious rights organization celebrates 10 years

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How ancestral knowledge can help incarcerated Natives

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Huy: helping Indigenous prison inmates

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Tribal Leaders Tell Gov. Inslee About Problems With Criminal Justice and Health Care Changes

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Indigenous prisoner human rights organization awarded $50,000 grant

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After months of requests, Native American religious sweat lodge ceremony will resume at WA prisons

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Restorative Justice in Indian Country

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