UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS February 9, 2022 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________

AHMAD AJAJ,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v. No. 19-1250 FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS; CALVIN JOHNSON, Associate Warden, in his individual capacity; D. PARRY, Officer, in his individual capacity; SAMANTHA MCCOIC, Medical Staff, in her individual capacity; JOHN OLIVER, Warden, in his individual capacity; DAVID B. BERKEBILE, Warden, in his individual capacity; TARA HALL, Associate Warden, in her individual capacity; GEORGE KNOX, Religious Counselor, in his individual capacity; RONALD CAMACHO, Physician Assistant, in his individual capacity,

Defendants - Appellees,

and

BILL TRUE, Warden, in his official capacity; CHRIS LAMB, Associate Warden, in his official capacity; K. MORROW, Medical Staff, in her official capacity; MICHAEL CASTLE, Chaplain, in his official capacity; JASON HENDERSON, Chaplain, in his official capacity; KENNETH CRANK, Inmate Trust Fund Supervisor, in his official capacity; ROGER HUDDLESTON, Nurse, in his official capacity; D. PARRY, Appellate Case: 19-1250 Document: 010110643021 Date Filed: 02/09/2022 Page: 2

Officer, in his official capacity; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Defendants.

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MUSLIM ADVOCATES; RODERICK AND SOLANGE MACARTTHUR JUSTICE CENTER,

Amici Curiae. _________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (D.C. No. 1:15-CV-00992-RBJ-KLM) _________________________________

Julieanne Buchanan (Nicole B. Godfrey, Danielle C. Jefferis, Aurora L. Randolph, Laura Rovner and student attorneys Denver Donchez, Katie Heideman, Hunger Ross, Andrew Shulman, and Zoë Williams, with her on the briefs), University of Denver Sturm College of Law Civil Rights Clinic, Denver, Colorado, for the Appellant.

Karl L. Schock, Assistant United States Attorney (Matthew T. Kirsch, Acting United States Attorney, with him on the brief), for the Appellee.

John J. Clarke, Jr., Caroline Fish, Micha Chavin, and Sean Newland, DLA Piper LLP (US), New York, New York, and Sacramento, California, filed a brief for Amicus Curiae Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center.

Matthew W. Callahan filed a brief for Amicus Curiae Muslim Advocates, Washington, D.C. _________________________________

Before HARTZ, BACHARACH, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

HARTZ, Circuit Judge. _________________________________

2 Appellate Case: 19-1250 Document: 010110643021 Date Filed: 02/09/2022 Page: 3

Ahmad Ajaj, a practicing Muslim, is a Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmate

serving a 114-year sentence for terrorist acts connected with the 1993 World Trade

Center bombing. Mr. Ajaj sued to obtain injunctive relief against BOP and damages

from BOP officials on several grounds, including violations of his rights to free

exercise of religion under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), 42 U.S.C.

§ 2000bb et seq. The United States District Court for the District of Colorado

dismissed his claims, and Mr. Ajaj has appealed. He contends that the district court

erred by holding (1) that his claim against the BOP for denial of his right to group

prayer was moot and (2) that RFRA did not provide a claim for damages against

government officials in their individual capacit