Muslim inmates suing Pierce County Jail

TACOMA, Wash. -- Two Muslim inmates from the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma are suing, claiming they are banned from practicing their religion.

The lawsuit was filed this week with the help of the ACLU and Public Interest Law Group in federal court in Tacoma.

The News Tribune reports that inmates Raymond Wesley Garland and Larry Edward Tarrer say the jail prohibits Muslims from group prayer, bans certain religious clothing and refuses to accommodate their diet.

Keli wrote:Garland recently was sent to state prison to begin serving a 28-year, 10-month sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder, second-degree assault and unlawfully possessing a firearm in a 2004 shooting that left a man dead. He is expected to return to the jail early next year while he stands trial in an unrelated assault case.

Tarrer was booked into the jail in June 2008 after his 1991 conviction for second-degree murder was overturned on appeal. He's currently being retried on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Prosecutors allege he shot two women, one of them pregnant. One of the victims died and the surviving woman's baby died after being delivered by Cesarean section.