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Supreme Court Rejects Prisoner's Tort Claim For Lost Religious Items

By Howard Friedman

Yesterday in a 5-4 decision in Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, (US Sup. Ct., Jan. 22, 2008), the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a tort claim by a federal prisoner seeking to recover the value of property that was lost when his belongings were moved from one prison to another. The missing items, worth $177, included two copies of the Qur'an, a prayer rug and religious magazines. The court's majority opinion, written by Justice Thomas, relied on a provision in 28 USC Sec. 2680(c) that precludes Federal Tort Claims Act suits for detention of goods or property against "any officer of customs or excise or any other law enforcement officer." The majority concluded that the provision is not limited to officers enforcing customs or excise laws. AP covers the decision, reporting that plaintiff Abdus-Shahid M.S. Ali claimed that the missing religious items are part of a widespread pattern of harassment against Muslim inmates since 9-11. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Blog from the Capitol for the lead.]

Full post as published by Religion Clause on January 23, 2008 (boomark / email).