The Separation of Mosque and State

Shia Muslim prisoners at New York’s Fishkill Correctional Facility are suing state prison authorities. Their complaint is that the state, in accommodating the religious activities of Muslim inmates within its prison system, has favored one Islamic sect over another–Sunni Islam over Shia Islam. The Shia prisoners point out that the only Muslim chaplains the state ever has hired, more than 40 in all, are Sunni. They argue that New York has violated the First Amendment by establishing a religion (Sunni Islam) and limiting their free-exercise rights.