By Charles Wilson
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — A policy that American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh claims violates his Muslim beliefs by barring inmates in the tightly controlled prison unit where he is held from praying together more than once a week was based on advice from Islamic clerics, the head chaplain of the U.S. prison system says.
The government is defending its policy this week in Indianapolis against a lawsuit filed by Lindh, who claims it flouts a 1993 law restraining the government from curtailing religious expression without showing it has a compelling interest.
The key to the case is the tension between the need for security in a post-9/11 world and guarantees of freedom of religion, even behind bars.
According to court documents, Muslims in the tightly controlled Communications Management Unit in Terre Haute _ one of only two in the country _ are allowed to pray together only once a week, except during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Other faiths’ gatherings are also limited. At other times, they must pray alone in their individual cells, which Lindh said doesn’t meet the requirements of his school of Islam.
“I believe it’s obligatory,” Lindh said of daily group prayer during his testimony Monday. “If you’re required to do it in congregation and you don’t, then that’s a sin.”
Michael R. Smith Sr., chief chaplain for the Bureau of Prisons, testified Monday in federal court in Indianapolis that the agency consults with leaders of various religions before setting policy. However, he said prison policy doesn’t recognize religious services if they aren’t led by chaplains. He said officials decided group religious services must be supervised following a 2004 report about efforts to radicalize Muslim inmates following 9/11.
The government claims in court documents that Lindh delivered a radical sermon to other Muslim prisoners in February. It also says he delivered the sermon entirely in Arabic, which is not allowed under Bureau of Prison regulations that require all speech but ritual prayers to be in English.
Ken Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which is handling Lindh’s case, said the speech wasn’t radical and Lindh wasn’t disciplined for it.
The self-contained CMU houses 43 inmates, 24 of whom are Muslim. Prisoners are under open and covert audio and video surveillance, and except for talks with their attorney, all of their phone calls are monitored. Prisoners aren’t allowed to touch family members during tightly controlled visits. Without such strong security, the government claims, inmates would be able to conspire with outsiders to commit terrorist or criminal acts.
The government maintains that preserving security in the CMU makes it necessary to limit group activities, including prayer.
Lindh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for aiding the former Taliban government of Afghanistan during the 2001 U.S. invasion, disputed the government’s security argument.
“There are no legitimate security risks by allowing us to pray in congregations,” he said. “It’s absolutely absurd.”
Lindh said he didn’t recognize the government’s authority to restrict his religious practices, but he lived with it for practical reasons.
“I don’t recognize any law but the Sharia of Islam,” Lindh said in response to questioning by government attorneys. “There is no compromise,” he added.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2009 by two Muslim inmates in the unit. Lindh joined the lawsuit in 2010, and the case has drawn far more attention since then. The other plaintiffs have dropped out as they were released from prison or transferred to other units.
Lindh was originally charged with conspiring to kill Americans and support terrorists, but those charges were dropped in a plea agreement. He is eligible for release in 2019.