Butler v. Russell

Plaintiff, who when he filed this case was an inmate of the Lincoln County Jail, appeals from the trial court’s dismissal of a writ of habeas corpus in which plaintiff, an enrolled member of the Siletz Tribe and a participant in the Native American religion, challenges the jail policy denying him possession of a ceremonial eagle feather that he uses for religious purposes. He argues, among other things, that he would be entitled to possess the feather under the policies that the Department of Corrections follows in state prisons.

After the trial in this case, plaintiff was transferred to the…