CHIEF Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI has dismissed without prejudice the complaint filed by Mohammad Rafiqul Islam against a Corrections officer.
Without prejudice means he can refile it.
A Muslim federal inmate, Islam alleged that the Department of Corrections on Saipan had been serving him pork even after he told them that it is against the practice of his religion.
He has sued Corrections, its officials, and the U.S. Marshals Service on Saipan in their official and non-official capacities, for inadequate medical care and the violation of his constitutional right to practice his religious beliefs.
Islam named as defendants Don Hall and Alfred Celis of the U.S. Marshals Service Saipan, CNMI Department of Corrections official Georgia Cabrera and officer Maria Aldan who was assigned to the department’s medical unit.
Islam is seeking an award for an unspecified amount of punitive damages against the defendants.
On Nov. 20, 2020, Judge Manglona dismissed all of Islam’s complaints except the one against Maria Aldan who is represented by CNMI Assistant Attorney General Leslie Healer.
Aldan has filed a motion to dismiss. According to Healer, Aldan is protected by qualified immunity because she did not affirmatively violate Islam’s rights.
The court has learned that “although efforts were made to serve Islam electronically through the Bureau of Prisons,” none of the court orders or Maria Aldan’s filings were received by Islam.
The court asked Islam “whether, given his anticipated release and removal from the United States, he wished to proceed in this case.”
Islam was told that if he wants to pursue his lawsuit, he must comply with the court’s deadlines.
Additionally, he was instructed that he has to pay for an interpreter and other legal services he may need.
The court informed Islam that if he decides to dismiss the lawsuit, he could initiate a new civil action at a later time.
Islam said he will “initiate a new civil action once his affairs were in order in Bangladesh.”
Md. Feroj “Rippon” Ahmed served as Islam’s interpreter.
Judge Manglona then directed the clerk of court to mail all relevant documents in the case to Islam’s address in Bangladesh, and to close the case.
In 2018, Islam was sentenced by the federal court to serve 18 months in prison for his involvement in an illegal labor scheme.
He self-surrendered on Jan. 25, 2020 at the Department of Corrections. The U.S. Marshals Services subsequently transferred Islam from Saipan to the Guam Department of Corrections then to the Federal Correctional Institution in Victorville, CA, and finally to the Federal Correctional Institution in Big Spring, TX.
Islam filed his lawsuit in September 2020 while detained on Guam.
He is scheduled to be released by the Federal Bureau of Prisons on April 16, 2021 to the custody of U.S. immigration officials for his removal to Bangladesh.
