From: nattyreb@ix.netcom.com
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 23:24:20
Subject: !*Judge rejects 5% literature in prison

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Date: Sun, 04 Apr 1999 16:46:16 -0500
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BUFFALO, N.Y. _ A federal judge has turned down a convicted killer's
request  to have controversial literature from a black pride organization 
sent to him  in his prison cell.
           Magistrate Judge Carol Heckman recently refused to strike
down a state Department of Correctional Services rule that bans literature 
and symbols from the Five Percent organization in prisons across the state.
           The 34-year-old movement promotes education and family. The
word ``peace'' is central to the teachings. It rejects drinking, drugs and 
fornication.
           But state officials say it also promotes racial hatred and
gang violence.
           Lord Natural Self Allah, a Five Percenter who is serving time
in the Woodbourne Correctional Facility for manslaughter, says the ban
amounts to a violation of his First Amendment rights.
           Heckman said she weighed the free-speech rights of the Five 
Percent against her concerns for the safety of inmates and employees.
           State prison officials say inmates associated with the Five 
Percent have committed dozens of stabbings, beatings and extortions.
They say  the group is so dangerous, a mere display of its insignia in cells 
has been known to trigger violence.
           Some prison systems label all Five Percenters as gang
members.
In South Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Massachusetts and North Carolina,
prison officials have censored the group's teachings despite complaints by
inmateadvocates that they are trampling on freedom of religion.
           Heckman said that although the Five Percent as a group
preaches against violence, distribution of its materials inside prison walls
poses a legitimate security risk.
           ``Five Percenterism, in its pure, uncorrupted form,
represents a system of beliefs which, outside the prison context, does not
advocate
or  promote violence,'' Heckman wrote in a 26-page ruling.
           ``However, testimony by (prison officials) showed a clear 
relationship between Five Percenter literature and prison gang
activities,''  Heckman wrote.
           Self Allah's lawyer, Glenn Murray, said it's infair to ban
the  movement's literature for all inmates just because some of its followers
have  committed violent acts.
           ``I think the ruling shows the extent to which the courts
defer to prison officials,'' Murray told The Buffalo News. ``By branding
them as
a gang, they deny the Five Percenters from any impartial review.''
           Prison officials blame Five Percenters for violent acts at
Attica  State Correctional Facility and other facilities in the state.
           The Five Percent rejects most accepted history, authority and 
organized religion. The black man, the Five Percent teaches, is god.
           Prisons are where many members first learn and study. The
lyrics of hip-hop music by such stars as Busta Rhymes, Wu Tang Clan and
Erykah
Badu  spread the word on CDs and radio.
           Although the lessons teach a moral code, the Five Percent
reject being called a religion. They call themselves ``a culture'' and ``a
way
of life.'' They also call themselves the Nation of Gods and Earths.
           Self Allah, 29, said the Five Percenter teachings are a ``way
of life'' rather than a religion.
           The lawsuit was filed in Buffalo while Self Allah was serving
time in the State Correctional Facility in Elmira.