Jones v. Willingham

Decision Date05 November 1965
Docket NumberNo. T-3252.,T-3252.
PartiesRichard H. JONES, Jr., Plaintiff, v. J. T. WILLINGHAM, Warden, United State Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas, Defendant.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Kansas

Willard L. Phillips, McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips, Kansas City, Kan., for plaintiff.

Benjamin E. Franklin, Asst. U. S. Atty., Topeka, Kan., and Clair Cripe, Legal Department, Bureau of Prisons, Washington, D. C., for defendant.

ARTHUR J. STANLEY, Jr., Chief Judge.

The plaintiff, an inmate of the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, was permitted to file this action in forma pauperis. He alleges that solely because of his membership in the Nation of Islam, commonly called Black Muslims, he has been subjected to punishment and deprivation of privileges accorded adherents of other religious faiths; that he and inmates of like persuasion have been denied the right to assemble for worship, to receive religious instructions from Muslim ministers, and to receive literature published by the Nation of Islam. He seeks injunctive relief.

Under the provision of 28 U.S.C.A. § 1915(d), this court requested that Mr. Willard L. Phillips serve as the plaintiff's attorney. Mr. Phillips has accepted that responsibility, and has acted throughout the case as the plaintiff's attorney. Both parties have made extensive use of discovery procedures. A pretrial conference, with the plaintiff present in person and by counsel, resulted in the entry of a pretrial order which so simplified the issues as to leave only the following for determination by the court: "(W)hether the actions of the defendant, restricting the activities of the plaintiff, under the circumstances, including the claimed violation of constitutional rights, under the First, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and of statutory rights, under the federal Civil Rights statutes 28 U.S.C.A. § 1343(3), and 42 U.S.C.A. § 1981 et seq., exceeded the authority granted by law to the defendant to maintain security and discipline within the penitentiary, and therefore were subject to review by the courts."

It has been agreed by the defendant "that the assertion that the Nation of Islam is a religion will not be contested in the case, so that the Court may assume, for purposes of this case only in order to reach the issue of the cases, that it is a religion, and that this plaintiff is a member of said religion for purposes of this case."

The record is quite voluminous. The transcript of the testimony consists of 489 pages, and numerous exhibits were received. Two ministers of the Nation of Islam, Minister Clyde X. Jones and Minister James Shabazz, the first from the Mosque located in Kansas City, Missouri and the latter being the minister of Mosque No. 2 in Chicago, testified on behalf of the plaintiff, permission having been granted by Messenger Elijah Muhammad, the head of the Nation of Islam. Mr. Sanger B. Powers, a qualified penologist and Director of the Division of Corrections of the State of Wisconsin, was a witness for the defendant.

The defendant admits that under his administration, as well as under that of his predecessor, Warden J. C. Taylor, Black Muslim inmates are not permitted to meet together as such; that ministers of the Nation of Islam are not permitted to enter the penitentiary to preach to the Black Muslim inmates; that the right of individual Black Muslims "to have spiritual consultation" with ministers of the Muslim faith is restricted; and that no minister of the Nation of Islam is on the staff of the institution, although a Roman Catholic and a Protestant chaplain are provided.

Imprisonment carries with it many restrictions. "Lawful incarceration brings about the necessary withdrawal or limitation of many privileges and rights, a retraction justified by the considerations underlying our penal system." Price v. Johnston, 334 U.S. 266, 285, 68 S.Ct. 1049, 1060, 92 L.Ed. 1356 (1948). "A prisoner has only such rights as can be exercised without impairing the requirements of prison discipline." Sostre v. McGinnis, 334 F.2d 906, 908 (2d Cir. 1964), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 892, 85 S.Ct. 168, 13 L.Ed.2d 96 (1964). "(E)xcept in extreme cases, the courts will not interfere with the conduct of a prison, with the enforcement of its rules and regulations, or its discipline * * *." Childs v. Pegelow, 321 F.2d 487, 491 (4th Cir. 1963), cert. denied, 376 U.S. 932, 84 S.Ct. 702, 11 L.Ed.2d 652 (1964). One committed to prison, however, does not on entering the place of his confinement leave his constitutional rights at the gates. Pierce v. La Vallee, 293 F.2d 233 (2d Cir. 1961). The issue here may be stated as it was in the Pierce case:

"* * * Either the plaintiffs were punished solely because of their religious beliefs or they were not. If they were, the defendant
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  • Carothers v. Follette
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • July 15, 1970
    ...1968); Jackson v. Bishop, 268 F.Supp. 804 (E.D.Ark.1967), reversed on other grounds, 404 F.2d 571 (8th Cir.1968); Jones v. Willingham, 248 F.Supp. 791 (D.Kan.1965); Talley v. Stephens, 247 F.Supp. 683 (E.D.Ark.1965); United States ex rel. Hancock v. Pate, 223 F. Supp. 202 The Supreme Court'......
  • Bethea v. Crouse, 2-68
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)
    • December 3, 1969
    ...291 F.2d 196 (4th Cir. 1961); Coffin v. Reichard, 143 F.2d 443, 155 A.L.R. 143 (9th Cir. 1944); Lee v. Crouse, supra; Jones v. Willingham, 248 F.Supp. 791 (D.Kan.1965); Jordan v. Fitzharris, supra, we have never turned a deaf ear to a bona fide claim for relief based upon the deprivation of......
  • Cooper v. Pate
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)
    • June 29, 1967
    ...361 P.2d 417, 422, cert. den. (1961), 368 U.S. 864, 82 S.Ct. 111, 7 L.Ed.2d 61; Desmond v. Blackwell, supra footnote 8; Jones v. Willingham (D.Kan.1965), 248 F.Supp. 791. 10 Childs v. Pegelow, supra footnote 8, 321 F.2d at 490; Sostre v. McGinnes, supra footnote 9; Cooke v. Tramburg (1964),......
  • Lee v. Crouse
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Kansas
    • July 24, 1967
    ...assemblies of Muslim inmates has been already demonstrated at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth. See Jones v. Willingham, 248 F.Supp. 791 (D.Kan. 1965) (Stanley, C. J.). In our view, the Warden has admirably balanced delicate, competing considerations, the right of inmates to follow t......
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