Padilla Suit Against Yoo Includes RFRA Claim

Last week, in a decision widely reported in the press and blogosphere (AP, Consitutional Law Prof Blog), a California federal district court held that convicted terrorist Jose Padilla can sue former Deputy Attorney General-- now law professor-- John Yoo for drafting legal memos justifying the detention and interrogation of enemy combatants. Padilla alleges that the memos led to his being tortured. Less widely reported, however, was the fact that in Padilla v. Yoo, (ND CA, June 12, 2009), the court also held that Padilla can move ahead on a claim under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Padilla alleged that among the interrogation tactics used against him were the "sudden and unexplained removal of religious items," the "denial of any mechanism to tell time in order to ascertain the time for prayer in keeping with the Muslim practice," and "denial of access to the Koran for most of his detention." The court held that RFRA permits individual capacity suits for money damages against federal officials.