Religious legitimacy and the nation of islam: In re ferguson and muslim inmates' religious rights in the 1950s and 1960s

Abstract

On January 9, 1961, Folsom State Prison inmate Jesse L. Ferguson filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to the Supreme Court of the State of California. Ferguson, a member of the Nation of Islam, alleged that prison administrators had denied Muslim inmates the right to freely practice their religion, violating their constitutionally guaranteed rights. In his defense, however, Director of Corrections, Robert A. McGee, argued that the Muslim inmates' "quasi-religion" posed a significant threat to the health, safety, and welfare of correctional facilities, inmates, and staff. In this thesis I examine the case documents, analyzing the context and content of In re Ferguson with the aim of explicating the arguments made before the court and situating them in a broader historical narrative. The Ferguson case reflects many of the religious and judicial debates of the 1950s and 1960s. These debates had a significant impact on the Nation of Islam's legal status in prisons and the extent to which constitutional protections of incarcerated members' religious rights applied. What I present is an analysis of relevant historical material through which we can trace contestations over the Nation of Islam's religious nature and its recognition as a religious organization in prisons.