A federal judge has refused to block prison officials from placing one of convicted terrorism conspirator Jose Padilla's co-defendants in a special unit that imposes tight restrictions on visitors and communications with the outside world.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke said she found no constitutional violations in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons decision to send 46-year-old Kifah Wael Jayyousi to the "communications management unit" at Terre Haute, Indiana.
Among other things, inmates in the unit have their calls and mail scrutinized more closely than other prisoners and cannot have physical contact visits with family or friends. They must communicate in English unless an interpreter is available to monitor calls in another language, which would be Arabic in the case of Jordan-born Jayyousi.
Jayyousi attorney William Swor argued that these restrictions violate guarantees of due process and equal protection under the law, but Cooke rejected that.
"All of these conditions of confinement _ at least to the extent that I understand them through counsel's argument _ are incident to prison life," Cooke wrote in a 15-page order dated Wednesday and made available Thursday.
Justice Department lawyers argued it was essential for national security reasons for Jayyousi to serve his sentence in the special unit. Jayyousi was a financier and propagandist for a North American cell that provided recruits, money and supplies to Islamic extremists worldwide including al-Qaida, according to trial testimony.
Jayyousi, Padilla and 46-year-old Adham Amin Hassoun were convicted in August of three terrorism-related charges after a three-month trial. Jayyousi was sentenced to more than 12 years, Hassoun got over 15 years and Padilla more than 17 years.
Padilla, a U.S. citizen and Muslim convert who trained at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan, was arrested in 2002 on allegations that he was plotting to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" inside the U.S. He was held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant, then added in late 2005 to the existing Miami terrorism support case and the "dirty bomb" claims were dropped.
Swor said Thursday he would examine all legal options to get Jayyousi out of the restrictive prison unit.
"If an avenue to pursue my claims remains open, I will pursue it," Swor said.
Hassoun, who was Padilla's recruiter in South Florida, also sought to challenge his designation to a prison in Marion, Illinois, but Cooke declined to hear it. Padilla is serving his time at one of the nation's most secure prisons: the so-called "Supermax" facility in Florence, Colorado. Padilla has not challenged that designation.
All three are appealing their convictions and sentences, and federal prosecutors also are appealing the sentences as too lenient. They had sought life for all three.
