Pressing forward in CMU prison case

Pressing forward in CMU prison case

CCR has decided to appeal the March ruling in favor of the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in our CMU case, and we will be filing our official notice of appeal this week. Prisoners in CMUs are barred from any physical contact with their visitors and their phone calls, work, and educational opportunities are severely limited. Moreover, while the regulations about CMU placement are murky, the intended target is clear: 6 percent of the federal prison population is Muslim, but 60 percent of those held in CMUs are Muslim. Many of the remaining prisoners have unpopular political views, including environmental activists designated as “eco-terrorists.” Despite the stress of the punishing communications restrictions and the agony of not being allowed to even hug a family member, however, the court in March rejected our claim in Aref v. Holder that CMU prisoners have been deprived of their right to due process. It did not even consider the extensive evidence we presented demonstrating the broken designation and review procedures that have plagued the CMUs since they were first opened. Instead, the court ruled that the CMUs are not sufficiently unusual, harsh, or restrictive to even trigger due process rights. This decision must not stand, and we are hopeful that the appellate court will recognize the harsh reality of the CMUs where the district court did not. Without an appeal, the BOP would have complete discretion to continue placing unpopular prisoners in CMUs for discriminatory and retaliatory reasons, without providing the prisoners fair notice about why they are there or how they can get out.