John Walker Lindh of Marin County, CA, was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 after fighting with the Taliban.
Posted on 08/27/2012 4:43:35 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
John Walker Lindh was a middle-class kid in Northern California who converted to Islam and went to travel the world. U.S. authorities eventually captured him in Afghanistan after 9/11, when he was allegedly fighting alongside the Taliban.
His story was the focus of a "Law and Order" episode, and a song called "John Walker's Blues" by Steve Earle.
For the last five years, Lindh has been living in a secret prison facility in Indiana with convicted terrorists, neo Nazis and other inmates who get special monitoring.
On Monday, Lindh will come out of the shadows and into a federal courthouse in Indianapolis, as the plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The devout Muslim wants to be able to pray together with his fellow inmates every day from inside the walls of his secret prison unit in Terre Haute, Ind.
"They can sit around and talk about politics or football or whatever philosophy," says Ken Falk, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union who's representing Lindh. "The one thing they're not allowed to do is pray together for their daily prayers, which many Muslims believe is required or at least strongly preferred."
Falk says the prison system is stepping on the rights of those inmates to practice their faith under a federal law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The Bureau of Prisons didn't want to talk about the specifics of the case. But they argued in court papers that allowing inmates to pray together every day could pose a security threat and could ignite violence against Muslims by prisoners who follow other religions.
Prison officials add that Lindh has had some discipline problems. He got in trouble for making a call to prayer early in the morning. Next, he got cited for praying in a cell with other people. And in the third episode, the warden accused Lindh of being "insolent" after his family visits got cut short.
"Anyone would have reacted with anger to two terminations of visits with family members who are traveling two-thirds of the way across the country," says Falk, who contends the other infractions didn't represent anything serious.
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sorry Johnny if kids can’t pray in gubmint schools then murderous treasoners can’t pray in gubmint prisons
For those who don’t know...
On October 4, 2002, Judge T.S. Ellis, III formally imposed the sentence on John Walker Lindh: 20 years without possibility of parole.
Lindh has already served 10 years. Lindh would be eligible for release in 17 years, with good behavior. Which means he could be out by 2019. He’ll be a mere 38 then.
For those who don’t know...
On October 4, 2002, Judge T.S. Ellis, III formally imposed the sentence on John Walker Lindh: 20 years without possibility of parole.
Lindh has already served 10 years. Lindh would be eligible for release in 17 years, with good behavior. Which means he could be out by 2019. He’ll be a mere 38 then.
Wonderful.......too bad he wasn't a battelfield casualty. I would image though, that will be his fate somewhere around 2020. Lets hope the only one he hurts this time is himself.
I can think of several things that should be required too. Traitors should be required to pick up and carry heavy stones all day long...
Excellent analogy!
He ought to consider himself fortunate that he isn’t put into the general population where his fellow inmates can “prey” on him.
Never Forgive... Never Forget!!!
KIA 25-November-2001 RIP
screw that little sh!t NOW AND FOREVER!!!
Wonderful.......too bad he wasn’t a battelfield casualty
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Right....
When he got picked up I believe one of his first ‘defenses’ was “I didn’t shoot at any Americans”....well, at that point he should have been turned over to the “Northern Alliance??”, whom he did shoot at.
And wasn’t he responsible for the murder of a CIA Operative that was placed in his compound in an attempt to get him to ‘safety’ once we found out he was American?
Along about that time he should have been brought out for a period of time, returned to the same compound with a ‘wild-fire’ type rumor that he had spilled his guts.
Case closed!
See where he got 20 with NO chance of parole and will probably get out in 17.
Didn’t they used to have sentencing like 20 yrs and 1 day, with the ‘theory’ being you had to serve the 20 yrs before you could serve the day?
Say no to Ratboy!
If Lindh does get out he should spend the rest of his sorry days with a price on his miserable head. And anyone who takes him out deserves the best defense team money can buy.
Probably deserved more than the sentence he got, but I don’t have a major problem with the mercy offered by his getting out in 17 years. He was a young and brain-numbed liberal.
It is a wonder obama has not pardoned him.
I wonder if he still speaks English with an Arab accent. Creepy.
When you are convicted, you are no longer alleged to have done the crime. It has been proven!
Liberal Media.
My first thought was that he should be asking Johnny Spann’s family, friends and shipmates for permission. Problem there is that it’s a grievous insult to them. Bugger this creep, I’m sure some mullah or grand mufti type is eager to give him dispensation.
Sadly, he’ll probably win his case. Pure evil.
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