Two Muslim inmates held in a special unit at the U.S. prison in Terre Haute say they aren’t allowed to pray in groups as often as their religion commands and have asked a federal judge to ease limitations on worship imposed by the Bureau of Prisons.
The prison in western Indiana houses several high-security inmates, including American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for aiding Afghanistan’s now-defunct Taliban government.
The June 16 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana challenges limits on Islamic worship in the prison’s restrictive Communications Management Unit, where about 30 of the 40 inmates are Muslim.
Muslims are required to pray five times a day, but the lawsuit, filed on behalf of inmates Enaam Arnaout and Randall T. Royer, says inmates in the CMU are allowed to pray as a group just one hour a week. The ACLU contends that violates a federal law barring the government from restricting religious activities without showing a compelling need.
The lawsuit is one of two the ACLU has filed concerning conditions in the CMU in the past week. The ACLU claimed in a June 18 lawsuit that the unit was created in secrecy and keeps its mostly Muslim inmates in virtual isolation.
A Justice Department spokesman said last week that the government followed federal rules in creating the special unit in November 2006. Designed to house prisoners who require additional security, the unit closely monitors inmates’ outside contacts.
Bureau of Prisons officials declined comment on the latest lawsuit.
Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, questioned policies allowing prisoners out of their cells for several hours a day to watch television, play cards or engage in other group activities but limiting group worship to one hour on Fridays.
“That means four people can sit around the table playing cards or talking about the basketball game but they can’t worship,” Falk said.
The lawsuit asks the Bureau of Prisons to reinstate daily prayers that were held in a multipurpose room for several months after the CMU opened. The bureau has denied the inmates’ previous requests to resume the prayers.
“You are being accommodated with group prayer for the Friday Jumah Prayer service. All other prayers may be accomplished as an individual practitioner by praying in your cell,” Regional Director Michael K. Nalley wrote in a response to one of Royer’s appeals earlier this year.
Louay Safi, director of leadership development with the Plainfield-based Islamic Society of North America, said Muslims try to pray in groups whenever possible.
“It is in the prophetic tradition,” he said. “Muhammad said there is a much greater reward for people who pray in congregation than those who pray individually.”
The Islamic Society is not a party in the suit.
Arnaout, 46, is serving a 10-year sentence for racketeering after admitting in 2003 that he defrauded donors to his Benevolence International Foundation by diverting some of the money to Islamic military groups in Bosnia and Chechnya. The Syrian-born U.S. citizen is scheduled to be released in 2011.
Royer, 36, is serving 20 years for his participation in what prosecutors called a “Virginia jihad network.” The group used paintball games in 2000 and 2001 as military training in preparation for holy war against nations deemed hostile to Islam, prosecutors say. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, several members went to Pakistan to join the Taliban and fight U.S. troops.
No members of the conspiracy ever actually joined the Taliban.
Royer, a former spokesman for the Muslim American Society, is scheduled to be released in 2021.
Arnaout was convicted in Chicago, while Royer was convicted in Alexandria, Va. The Terre Haute prison draws high security male inmates from across the country. It is the only prison in the nation housing federal death row inmates and the only place where they are executed. Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was put to death at the prison in 2001 for the 1995 bombing that killed 168 people.