Created in 1996, SAMs were imposed for a maximum of four months when a prisoner was deemed violent. Now, SAMs can be designated by the Attorney General for up to a year, and renewed continually thereafter "resulting in perpetual isolation, a form of torture under international law. The SAMs limit certain "privileges," including, but not limited to, correspondence, visits, media interviews and telephone use," Mariam Abu-Ali adds.
The financial and emotional impact of Abu-Ali's trial and conviction on his family is different but no less painful. Prism discussed these issues with Mariam Abu-Ali, who is now 23, graduated from Georgetown, studying government and Arabic. She works for a not-for-profit that promotes Muslim values.
"We are not a family with a lot of money, so we were forced to ask for financial support from the community," she told us.
"But there is so much Islamophobia in the country, and so much fear among American Muslims, that we weren't able to tap into institutional resources such as Muslim American organizations or even mosques."
She explained: "By and large most of those who gave money did so as individuals and did so secretly. Muslim organizations always came up with reasons they couldn't support us."
"Most people have no idea what it means financially when the government charges you with a crime. You need the best lawyers you can get, and lawyers are not cheap. Once the trial is over, if there is a conviction, you have to deal with prison visits. One of the truly draconian regulations at the Supermax is that there can only be two family visits a year. Each trip per person costs at least $2000. Once the prison authorities cancelled a family visit. Another time, we couldn't scrape up the money," she said, adding:
"Regardless of [inmates'] innocence or guilt, it is their right to be treated humanely. If we believe in the inherent dignity of each human being, then we should be outraged by these abuses. Unfortunately, abuse here in the United States rarely receives media attention."
But the heart of the court's pushback against the government came in Judge Bates's eloquent memorandum written during the habeas hearing, before any criminal trial was contemplated. Judge Bates was a George W. Bush nominee to the court.
At one point, Judge Bates asked whether the government could identify "any case in which . . . even the legal theory for dismissal is not known to the other side?' The government could not."
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