By Jerry Maleek Gearin, Journalism Guild Chair 

An Islamic scholar’s First Amendment rights enabled his release from federal detention 20 years after the 9/11 attacks.

The U.S. government said Ali Al-Timimi, who had been sentenced to life in prison, used his lectures to encourage Muslim men to get military training and fight American troops in Afghanistan, according to the New York Times. 

Al-Timimi served 20 years in federal detention for 10 criminal convictions, including solicitation of treason. His legal team argued their client only counseled his followers amid post-9/11 anti-Muslim sentiments, stated the Times.

A three-judge panel in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., vacated all of his criminal convictions.

“Plenty of speech encouraging criminal activity is protected under the First Amendment,” wrote Federal Appeals Judge James Wynn. “The First Amendment’s protection does not depend on the popularity or palatability of the message conveyed.”

The Muslim men actually purchased weapons and received paintball tactical training in the state of Virginia, prompting them to be nicknamed the “paintball terrorists.” 

The men never fought against any American troops but some received lengthy prison terms because of their training, according to the Times.

Al-Timimi’s appeal lasted 20 years. Jonathan Turley, counsel to Al-Timimi and a law professor at George Washington University, said this case “stands as one of the longest direct appeals in history.”

In 2005, at the time of Al-Timimi’s sentencing, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia called the mandated federal sentencing guidelines “draconian.”

In September 2020, Judge Brinkema gave Al-Timimi his conditional release from a super-maximum security prison in Florence, Colo. Turley drove Al-Timimi to Northern Virginia, where Al-Timimi took up residence and lived without incident under court supervision, according to the Times.

“When courts refuse to allow convictions based merely on the expression of ideas, no matter how alarming those ideas may be to some,” said Federal Public Defender Geremy Kamens, “they vindicate the First Amendment’s core promise and demonstrate the strength of our system of government.”