Court: Inmate can’t use spiritual name on correspondence

A Wisconsin prisoner can’t call himself only by his spiritual name on his letters.

Norman Green was convicted of homicide in 1991. He filed a lawsuit in 2011 demanding he be allowed to call himself only by the spiritual name Prince Atum-Ra Uhuru Mutawakkil in his correspondence. He contended a prison policy allowing inmates who have legally changed their names to use those new names applies to him.

The 4th District Court of Appeals rejected his arguments Thursday. The court concluded allowing inmates who adopt spiritual names to omit the name they were convicted under on correspondence would slow prison mail and hurt staff’s ability to identify gang activity. The court noted that Green can use both names on his letters, though.

Court documents didn’t list an attorney for Green.