Big Win for Prisoners at Secretive Federal Units

Big Win for Prisoners at Secretive Federal Units

On Friday, the D.C. Court of Appeals reinstated our case challenging the Bureau of Prisons’ secretive Communications Management Units (CMUs), which impose years-long segregation and severe communications restrictions on a majority-Muslim prison population. Documents we uncovered in the lawsuit revealed that prisoners are routinely sent to the units without meaningful explanation or ability to challenge the punitive placement, but rather in retaliation for their political speech and religious practice in prison. Sixty percent of the prisoners are Muslim, though Muslims comprise only six percent of the federal prisoner population. Nonetheless, the district court had ruled that prisoners had no “liberty interest” in avoiding placement in a CMU – and thus did not need to receive any due process at all before being sent to one. This win means the district court will now have to review the prisoners’ evidence of extensive due process violations. The appellate court’s decision makes clear that the BOP cannot simply send anyone they want to a CMU, for any reason, without explanation, for years on end and will, we hope, have reverberations for BOP practices in other federal prison facilities.
Our client Kifah Jayyousi said when he heard the news, “Today’s ruling proves that the years of abuse my family and I, along with many other Muslims, have suffered from the BOP was well worth the sacrifice. This decision finally restores our constitutional and human rights, and, thanks to CCR and all of you, it is a win for all Americans.”