Southern California breaking news and trends  State prison
relaxes restrictions on Muslim inmates  North Kern State Prison
North Kern State Prison is in Delano, CA.  North Kern State
Prison is relaxing its restrictions on activites for Muslim
prisoners. About a dozen prisoners there had contacted the ACLU
of Southern California, complaining they weren't allowed to pray
in the yard, only in the chapel, which is not always open. They
therefore couldn't pray five times a day, as required by their
religion. Additionally, inmates said they were not generally
allowed to wear their kufis—small, brimless head coverings—and
weren't receiving their orders of prayer oil.  ACLU attorney
Jessica Price says state prisons are required to make
accommodations for inmates with sincere religious beliefs. At
first, she thought the kufi restrictions might be a wider safety
issue with headgear in general.  "But it turned out, when we
further investigated, that the inmates were allowed to wear
baseball caps, but they weren't allo