More than a decade after he was captured in Afghanistan, John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban," was in a federal court in Indiana this week seeking not his release from a federal prison in Terre Haute but the right to pray with fellow Muslim inmates several times a day. Lindh makes a plausible case that the facility is needlessly restricting his rights under federal law.
Lindh, a teenage convert to Islam who joined the Taliban before Sept. 11, 2001, never waged war against his fellow Americans. Yet he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for violating a Clinton-era presidential order that prohibits providing "services" to the Taliban. Even if Lindh's sentence weren't excessive — and it was — he has the right to practice his religion under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That law provides that the government shall not "substantially burden" a person's exercise of religion unless it demonstrates that doing so furthers a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.
The Communications Management Unit that houses Lindh does allow Muslim prisoners to meet for prayer every Friday and more often during Ramadan. But, citing security concerns (and the possibility that frequent Muslim prayers would mean fewer resources to accommodate other religions), the prison administration will not allow the inmates to pray in groups several times a day. The notion that group prayers would be uniquely dangerous is difficult to credit given that they may engage in other activities outside their cells between 6 a.m. and 9:15 p.m., including conversing, snacking, playing board games, watching television and playing sports.