A Jefferson County circuit judge must hold a hearing on an Arkansas inmate's request for an injunction against the Department of Correction in relation to his ability to practice his religion, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Malik Muntaqim, 46, sued the department in 2015, claiming prison officials denied him access to certain Nation of Islam publications and the right to lead Nation of Islam religious services, according to court records. The lawsuit named 22 defendants, including department Director Wendy Kelley and employees of two prison units.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Jodi Dennis denied Muntaqim's requests for summary judgment in his favor and a preliminary injunction against the department, arguing that Muntaqim had not demonstrated he could win his case. Muntaqim appealed.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that Muntaqim couldn't appeal the denial for summary judgment because the denial was not a final, appealable order. But the court ruled the lower court should have held a hearing on Muntaqim's motion for a preliminary injunction against the defendants. Not doing so was an abuse of discretion, the court ruled, because Muntaqim was alleging a violation of his religious liberties that would cause irreparable harm and because the facts of the case were in dispute.
"The complexity and the rights in question warrant a hearing below," Justice Shawn Womack wrote in the court's unanimous decision.
Muntaqim, who is serving time for aggravated robbery, breaking and entering, theft of property and other crimes, claimed Varner Unit Warden Randy Watson and Cummins Unit Warden Gaylon Lay denied him access to the Nation of Islam periodical, The Final Call 22 times, according to court records.
"Without these materials, a person could not function well in the Nation of Islam's religious community," Muntaqim, who is representing himself, wrote in his appellant brief in 2015. He cited previous court cases, including one in Louisiana in which judges sided with inmates who claimed their religious liberties were infringed upon when they were denied access to The Final Call. Muntaqim has moved to the Wrightsville Unit.
Muntaqim argued he was entitled to the injunction because he had proven his likelihood to win his case, adding that monetary damages "cannot make him whole, because no value can be placed on one's connection to his Creator."
Muntaqim also claimed that Department of Correction policy prohibited him from conducting Nation of Islam religious services when a noninmate volunteer wasn't available. Further, he argued, the department's volunteers are Sunni Muslims, who teach a different type of Islam. The prison allows other inmates to lead religious services, he said.
The state had argued that the Circuit Court's denial of Muntaqim's motion for summary judgment was not appealable and that the Circuit Court did not abuse its discretion in denying Muntaqim's motion for preliminary injunction.
In a brief prepared by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge's office in 2015, the defendants argued that granting Muntaqim injunction against the department would alter the status quo at the department, allowing inmates all over the state to receive The Final Call and allowing him to lead services in contradiction to the department's policy.
The state argued that "mentioning the First Amendment in a pleading does not justify a preliminary injunction." Irreparable harm only occurs if the plaintiffs are correct that their First Amendment rights have been violated, the state argued, citing a 1996 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals case, Marcus v. Iowa Public Television. "The question returns to whether the Circuit Court was convinced that Muntaqim was likely to succeed on his claims against twenty-two disparate and scattershot parties, many of whom could be dismissed on the pleadings alone."
Muntaqim would need to prove irreparable harm without the injunction and that he has a likelihood of winning his case, the state argued. In this case, Muntaqim had not stated a civil-rights claim against several of the defendants, thus failing to prove that he would win, the state argued.
Metro on 03/17/2017