Description of Radical Islam In Indictment Does Not Violate Defendant's Religious Freedom

United States v. Bary, (SD NY, Oct. 23, 2013), is a criminal prosecution against Kahlid Al Fawwaz and Adel Abdel Bary for, among other things, conspiring with Osama Bin Laden to kill Americans abroad in embassy bombings in African countries.  Bary challenged language in his indictment that says al Qaeda regarded the United States as an infidel because the U.S. is "not governed in a manner consistent with the group's extremist interpretation of Islam." Defendant argued that this language in the indictment violates the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause:

[u]nder the First Amendment of the Constitution, the Government does not have the right to decide what forms of religion are "normal" versus "extreme." . . . . The Government's labeling of the defendant's belief in Islam as "extremist" is disapproving of and infringes on Mr. Abdel Bary's religious freedoms.

The court rejected this argument as "unpersuasive."