Allah v. Menei
| Citation | 844 F. Supp. 1056 |
| Decision Date | 23 February 1994 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 93-4958. |
| Parties | Minister Michael Malik ALLAH v. Father Francis MENEI, Chaplain Edward Neiderheiser. |
| Court | United States District Courts. 3th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Pennsylvania) |
Michael Malik Allah, pro se.
Denise A. Kuhn, Office of Atty. Gen., Philadelphia, PA, for defendants.
AND NOW, this 23rd day of February, 1994, upon consideration of Defendants' Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment, it is hereby ORDERED that the defendants' motion is DENIED.
This action seeks the opportunity to practice the religion of an Islamic sect in a penal institution.
The pro se1 plaintiff, Minister Michael Malik Allah ("Minister Allah"), is an inmate at the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Graterford ("Graterford"). The defendants are Father Francis Menei ("Father Menei"), Central Administrator of Religion and Family Services for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, and Chaplain Edward Neiderheiser ("Chaplain Neiderheiser"), Graterford's Institutional Chaplaincy Programs Director. Compl. p. 3.
On June 15, 1993, Minister Allah, as a representative of twenty-four (24) Graterford inmates, submitted a memorandum style letter (the "Memorandum") to William R. Winder, a Graterford Deputy Superintendent. Compl., Ex.Mem. Letter to William Winder (June 15, 1993). The Memorandum sought the establishment of "a religious organization under Muhammads sic Temple of Islam faith within this institution." Id. The Memorandum, which was attached to the instant Complaint, requested that the members of Muhammad's Temple of Islam (the "Temple of Islam") be afforded opportunities to practice their faith separate from, but consistent with, the opportunities offered Graterford's other religious communities, including the Nation of Islam. Id. Specifically, the Memorandum requested supplies2 and "approval for the attendance of a spiritual leader (Minister) from the outside community during Friday service and the community nights here at the institution."3Id. at 2. Minister Allah identified Minister Al Muntaquin Ali ("Minister Ali") as a leader of the Temple of Islam from the outside community. Id. at 4; Pl.'s letter to the court (docketed as Document 10). The Memorandum sets forth a list of the Temple of Islam's practices.4Id.
Minister Allah submitted similar written requests to Graterford Deputy Superintendent Thomas Stachelek on June 23 and June 26, 1993. Defs.' Mot. for Summ.J., Ex. E, F. In response to the Memorandum and the requests directed to Deputy Superintendent Stachelek, prison officials informed Minister Allah that prison regulations required him to meet with Chaplain Neiderheiser to review Pennsylvania Department of Correction procedures regarding recognition of faiths that are not well known. Id.
The operative regulation is Pennsylvania Bureau of Correction BC-ADM 819 Administrative Directive, Religious Activities (the "Religion Directive"). The Religion Directive's stated purpose is to "establish general guidelines for institutional religious activities" and it details prison procedure regarding inmate access to chapel facilities, accoutrements, literature, special foods and religious advisors from the outside community. The Recognition of Faiths section of the Religion Directive provides:
Defendants maintain that the plaintiff and his supporters have failed to provide the appropriate prison officials with the information required by the Recognition of Faiths section and, consequently, are not entitled to the recognition and separate privileges they seek.5 See Defs.' Mot. for Summary Judgment p. 5, 8; Defs.' Renewed Mot. for Summ.J. p. 1.
On September 15, 1993, the plaintiff initiated this action by motion to proceed in forma pauperis.6 On September 20, 1993, the court ordered the Graterford officials responsible for ensuring inmates' rights to undertake a review of the subject matter of the Complaint and file a report with the court within thirty (30) days. Order of September 20, 1993.
On October 22, 1993, Chaplain Neiderheiser sent a letter to Minister Ali stating that the materials submitted by the plaintiff and his other supporters were insufficient to warrant recognition. The letter further states that the "Department Directives require the following as noted in Father Menei's memo:7
Defs.' Mot. for Summ.J. Ex. J.
On November 3, 1993 the defendants filed the report ordered by the court and an accompanying motion for summary judgment. Defs.' Mot. for Summ.J. In response, the plaintiff filed his Motion in Objection to the Defendant's Summary Judgment Motion. The plaintiff's motion opposing summary judgment contained as an exhibit a November 10, 1993 letter from Minister Ali to Father Menei. That letter outlines the goals and beliefs of the Temple of Islam, requests recognition for the Temple of Islam and expresses why the religious needs of the plaintiff and those he represents cannot be satisfied by existing Graterford faith groups. Pl.'s Mot. in Objection to Defs.' Mot. for Summ.J., Ex. A; Defs.' Renewed Mot. for Summ.J., Ex. B. The plaintiff's objection to summary judgment also contained a twelve (12) point statement subtitled "What the Muslims Believe" and a ten (10) point statement subtitled "What the Muslims Want". Pl.'s Mot. in Objection to Defs' Mot. for Summ.J., Ex. A2. Upon review of the defendants' report and accompanying motion for summary judgment and the objections of the plaintiff, the court ordered the defendants to prepare a supplemental report. Order of November 22, 1993. During the time allowed for preparation of the supplemental report, the plaintiff, in a paper also signed by Minister Rasul Muhammad Ay, inmate minister of the Nation of Islam, submitted to Graterford officials a list of sixteen (16) differences between the Temple of Islam and the Nation of Islam. Defs.' Mot. for an Enlargement of Time, Ex. A.9
The defendants' supplemental report and its accompanying Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment are the subject of this Order.10
The defendants seek judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.11 The defendants offer two alternative theories in support of their motion for summary judgment. First, they contend that the plaintiff is not entitled to relief because neither the plaintiff nor his associates have provided Graterford's staff with sufficient documentation to warrant recognition under the Recognition of Faiths section of the Religion Directive. Defs.' Renewed Mot. for Summ.J. p. 1. Second, the defendants argue that, even if the prerequisites of the Religion Directive were satisfied, the plaintiff would not be entitled to recognition and its attendant rights because the "Temple of Islam and the Nation of Islam are religiously identical." Id.
Because this suit concerns the efficacy of restrictions on the fundamental rights of inmates, the analysis begins with the recognition of the competing interests at stake. Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401, 407, 109 S.Ct. 1874, 1878, 104 L.Ed.2d 459 (1989). On the one hand, it is firmly established that convicted prisoners do not forfeit all constitutional protections by reason of their conviction and confinement in prison. O'Lone v. Estate Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342, 348, 107 S.Ct. 2400, 2404, 96 L.Ed.2d 282 (1987); Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 84, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 2259, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987) (). Indeed, the United States Supreme Court insists that "prisoners be accorded those rights not fundamentally inconsistent with imprisonment itself or incompatible with the objectives of incarceration." Monmouth County Correctional Inst. Inmates v. Lanzaro, 834 F.2d 326, 333 (3rd Cir.1987) (citing Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 523, 104 S.Ct. 3194, 3198, 82 L.Ed.2d 393 (1984)).
On the other hand, lawful incarceration brings about the necessary withdrawal or limitation of many significant privileges and rights. O'Lone, 482 U.S. at 348, 107 S.Ct. at 2404; Abbott, 490 U.S. at 407, 109 S.Ct. at 1878. The considerations underlying our penal system justify this retraction of constitutional rights. Id. Limits on the exercise of constitutional rights arise both from the fact of incarceration and from valid penological objectives — including deterrence of crime, rehabilitation of prisoners, and institutional security. O'Lone, 482 U.S. at 348, 107 S.Ct. at 2404.
The plaintiff's claim alleges the abridgment of two fundamental rights protected by the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment and federal law: (1) the right to exercise one's faith free from undue state interference, and (2) the right to be free from state action that favors one faith over another. Compl. p. 2; U.S. CONST. amend. I; 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb. The defendants cite security risks and costs associated with recognizing the Temple of Islam as an independent faith group as the chief penological interests at stake. Defs. Mot. for Summ.J. p. 9.12See Defs.' Renewed Mot. for Summ.J.
The defendants' first argument consists of two propositions: (1) the Recognition of...
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