Smoking pot is part of his religion, inmate says in lawsuit against South Carolina prisons
A man serving a life sentence for murder has sued the South Carolina Department of Corrections because he is not allowed to smoke pot in prison, which he says violates his religious freedoms as a Rastafarian.
James Rose, 41, was convicted of murder in 2013. He was involved in the execution-style murder of the son of a town council member in Lincolnville, South Carolina, according to the Post and Courier newspaper.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Charleston, Rose says the Department of Corrections violates his constitutional rights by refusing to give him marijuana as part of the Rastafarian religious practice. Additionally, he argues, he should be allowed to grow his hair to unlimited length as part of his religion.
A mugshot in the state Department of Corrections database shows Rose with a shaved head.
Read more: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2018/12/13/south-carolina-inmate-lawsuit-against-department-corrections-says-smoking-pot-his-religion/2298690002/