Muslim Legal Fund of America
The Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) is a charity that funds legal work and programs to defend Muslims against injustice in American courtrooms, prisons, and communities. They provide funding for cases that impact the civil rights liberties of Muslims in America, issue grants for projects to increase the legal community’s ability and defend justice of Muslims, and conduct informational programs to spread awareness of issues and cases that impact Muslim communities.
The MFLA believe that Muslims in America are subject to unjust prosecutions and unfair trials. They further maintain that excessive sentences, cruel prison conditions, and religious intimidation are acts committed against Muslim prisoners. The MLFA works under the premise that Islam came to establish justice between people; thus the MLFA believes that they have a religious obligation to support and promote justice. Working as a community and pooling collective resources, the MLFA believes that they can make a positive impact on the state of justice for Muslim Americans.
MLFA works on cases that involve constitutional issues such as freedom of religion, speech, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, trial by jury, rights of the accused, illegal searches and seizures, due process, right to legal counsel, excessive bail, and cruel and unusual punishment. In addition, the MLFA will assist with individuals approached by federal law enforcement, particularly when people are approached due to the fact that they are Muslims. However, cases that involve being justifiably fired from a job, domestic issues, denial of benefits, tenant disputes, and state cases are not generally funded by MLFA.
The MLFA's flagship project is the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America, which is a nonprofit law firm directed by attorney Charles Swift.
The MLFA has been involved in many controversial, high-profile terror finance cases, some of which and have received international attention.
In 2003, computer science teacher at the University of Florida, Sami Al-Arian, was arrested as part of a federal terrorism investigation and accused being a leader of the terrorist group Palestinian Jihad. He was acquitted of most charges after pleading guilty, in 2005, to charges of conspiracy to provide, make, or receive funds, goods, or services for the benefit of a terrorist organization. The MLFA used funding to challenge the denial of substantive and procedural due process rights to Dr. Sami.
After his prison sentence, Al-Arian was expected to be deported. However, he was later charged with criminal contempt for refusing to testify in another terror-related case in 2008. After the case was dismissed Al-Arian was deported in 2015.
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