Federal judge in Wyoming denies inmate's sweat lodge request

RIVERTON, Wyo. — A federal judge has ruled against a Northern Arapaho man's claim that Wyoming prison officials improperly denied him access to a sweat lodge for religious purposes at the state prison in Torrington.

Andrew John Yellowbear Jr. is serving a life sentence in state prison in the 2004 beating death of his daughter, 22-month-old Marcela Hope Yellowbear.

U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson has dismissed Yellowbear's civil rights lawsuit on the sweat lodge issue.

Yellowbear filed the lawsuit last year claiming that prison officials said they could not allow him to participate in sweat lodge ceremonies at the Torrington prison.