MoFo Secures Return of Famed Jailhouse Lawyer to Arkansas in First Amendment Settlement

Morrison Foerster secured the return of its pro bono client Gregory Holt — also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad — from the federal prison in West Virginia where Arkansas prison officials had sent him in retaliation for the exercise of his First Amendment rights. A settlement effectuating Mr. Muhammad’s return to state custody in Arkansas was secured after the close of evidence in a short bench trial in the Eastern District of Arkansas. The outcome vindicates the First Amendment right of prisoners to pursue their legal claims without fear of retaliation.

MoFo, in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arkansas, represented Mr. Muhammad in a federal lawsuit challenging his transfer from an Arkansas state prison to a dangerous federal prison in West Virginia. The case claimed that Arkansas officials violated Mr. Muhammad’s First Amendment rights by transferring him in retaliation for his extensive civil rights advocacy on behalf of himself and other incarcerated people. After an initial hearing in July, the court set an expedited bench trial for October – and a team of six MoFo attorneys launched an aggressive discovery and trial schedule.

Mr. Muhammad is well known for exercising his First Amendment right to pursue civil rights litigation, including a landmark 2015 Supreme Court victory (Holt v. Hobbs) affirming religious liberty rights for people in prison. Arkansas’ decision to abruptly transfer him over 1,000 miles away harmed Mr. Muhammad’s legal work by cutting him off from his counsel and legal materials and threatening to end his ongoing cases. MoFo and the ACLU represent Mr. Holt in one of those cases, Holt v. Payne.

This settlement secures the full relief Mr. Muhammad requested in his complaint and additional accommodations for his legal work. The settlement returns Mr. Muhammad to his original unit and to a similar cell, and it will restore his access to the courts so he can continue to pursue his other pending litigation. It also provides him the ability to assist other prisoners and access legal documents through his new position in the institution’s law library.

Carolyn Homer, the lead trial Of Counsel from Morrison Foerster, stated, “The goal was always to bring Mr. Muhammad home, and we succeeded. Now he can resume the civil rights work that has long been an inspiration for incarcerated people.”

The MoFo trial team also included associates Adi Kamdar, Quinn Walker, Keniece Gray, Talia Plofsky, and Niki Hendi.

Read the ACLU’s press release.