State corrections officers altered prisoner’s ID with racial caricature, lawsuit claims

By: Katherine Dailey

Outlets: Michigan Advance

Published: August 17, 2026

Words: 1,024

Last Updated: 1 day, 9 hours ago

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A corrections officer at Newberry Correctional Facility in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula digitally altered a Native American prisoner’s ID to depict him wearing a feathered headdress, stereotypical Indigenous attire and facial paint, a lawsuit filed in Michigan state court in early August alleges.

Dylan Leenheer, who is Native American and a member of the Gun Lake Tribe, is suing the Michigan Department of Corrections, as well as three individual corrections employees involved in the incident, for …

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