‘American Taliban’ says prison restricts prayer

By Chelsea J. Carter, CNN, Aug. 27, 2012

(CNN) — John Walker Lindh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for aiding the Taliban, heads to federal court Monday in Indianapolis in an attempt to overturn a prison ban that he says severely restricts Muslim prayer.

Lindh is scheduled to take the stand in a lawsuit he filed against the warden and the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, alleging the warden’s ban on daily group prayer violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The warden, according to court documents, has argued that the ban implemented after 2007 is necessary because of security concerns.

Lindh, 31, is serving his sentence in Terre Haute’s Communications Management Unit, which opened in 2006. The unit severely restricts the contact of prisoners with the outside and monitors conversations between the inmates.