"American Taliban" Fighting For Right To Prison Group Prayer In Court

By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 27, 2012 6:40PM

John Walker Lindh, the American-born man who was detained as an enemy combatant during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, is expected to testify in a federal courtroom today in a lawsuit arguing that prison authorities are violating his religious freedoms by not allowing him and other Muslim inmates to engage in group prayer on a regular basis.

Lindh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for supplying services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony, is being held at the Communication Management Unit of the Federal Correction Center in Terre Haute, Ind. He joined the lawsuit, originally filed in 2009 by two other inmates, in 2010, claiming the Hanbali school of Islam requires group prayer where it’s possible. Inmates in the Communication Management Unit may engage in group prayer once a week, except during Ramadan. Otherwise they must pray in their individual cells which Lind says is degrading kneeling next to his toilet and doesn’t meet the requirements of the Quran.

Prison and government officials argue that extending group prayer privileges can help foster terrorist activities inside the prison. Yet inmates in the Communication Management Unit are under covert audio and video surveillance, must speak in English at all times except for reciting ritual prayers in Arabic, and have all phone calls save for conversations with their attorneys monitored. Government officials claim Lindh gave “a radical, all-Arabic sermon” in February that was consistent with an al-Qaeda manual that details how terrorists should conduct themselves while incarcerated and was proof "that religious activities led by Muslim inmates are being used as a vehicle for radicalization and violence in the CMU."

The ACLU of Indiana, which is representing Lindh, argues the policy violates federal law preventing the government from restricting religious freedom. ACLU legal director Ken Falk said the CMU is “an open unit where prisoners are basically out all day.”

"They can do basically any peaceful activity except praying," he said. "It makes no sense to say this is one activity we're going to prohibit in the name of security."