In Maisonet v. Dunn, (SD AL, Nov. 17, 2021), an Alabama federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing for lack of standing a suit by an imam who has previously ministered to inmates on Alabama's death row. Plaintiff challenges Alabama's new execution protocol which bars all religious advisors from the execution chamber. The magistrate judge said in part:
The allegation that "ADOC will continue to enforce a policy of excluding religious advisors—including Imam Maisonet—from the execution chamber" ... is insufficient because the Court has already held that Maisonet does not have a constitutionally protected right to be present in the execution chamber and because there is no allegation, for example, that Maisonet plans to attend a specific execution or that any inmate desires to have Maisonet attend an execution. Although Maisonet alleges that he "remains committed to providing religious support and guidance to the Muslims on Alabama's death row" ..., a commitment to religious support and guidance does not establish a certainly impending injury....
[T]he third-party inmates on Alabama's death row could assert their own rights and, in fact, have done so in appeals all the way to the United States Supreme Court. "It is the inmates, not [Maisonet], who have standing to pursue the primary claim he articulated."
