Imprisoned Taliban Fighter Wins Prayer Suit

It's illegal to prevent John Walker Lindh and his fellow Muslim inmates at a high-security prison from praying together daily, a federal judge ruled Friday. Lindh, a convicted American-born Taliban fighter, sued the prison with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, arguing that its ban on daily group prayer goes against the Quran and, specifically, the Hanbali school of Islam that mandates that he pray with other Muslims. The prison had previously allowed inmates to pray in groups only once a week or on high holy days, a rule the judge deemed illegitimate based on a 1993 law preventing government from curtailing religious speech.