Inmate says detention center withholding his lyrics from Spears, Springsteen

[bijou]

Muhammad Akbar isn't just a good songwriter, he's a "damn good" songwriter.

Or so he claims in a sworn complaint he has filed in U.S. District Court in St. Paul. His beef: He's incarcerated at the federal medical facility in Rochester, and he claims the staff have foiled his attempts to send his songs to various artists.

As a result, Akbar contends, his lyrics haven't landed in the laps of Britney Spears, Bruce Springsteen or Pink.

"And I want these three entertainers notified as to what's going on by the courts," he demands in his petition. He says that when he complained to the warden's office and others, "I was told that I was paranoid and having dilusions (sic)."

Akbar wants a judge to investigate his claims, and he also says he wants $50,000 for pain and suffering, although it appears from his filing that he initially valued his pain and suffering at $30,000, then upped the value and wrote a "5" over the "3."

Dan Cansino, a spokesman for the Rochester Federal Medical Center, said that while he hadn't seen Akbar's complaint, "generally, all inmate mail going out is subject to be opened and searched."

Cansino said that with the exception of special mail, like private correspondence to a lawyer, "it's going to go in the mailbox and staff is going to review it before it goes out."

The petition is the latest legal action filed by Akbar, who is serving a 50-year term for hijacking a passenger jet to Cuba in 1980. He is 64 and is scheduled for

release in August 2012.

According to court files, Akbar was born Gerald Leland Marity. He enlisted in the Navy in Minneapolis in 1964 and served two tours of duty off the coast of Vietnam in 1966 and 1967. He was honorably discharged in 1968.

After returning to the U.S., he got involved in the Black Muslim movement and changed his name to Muhammad Jalaal Deen Akbar. He went to Mexico to seek political asylum at the Iranian and Iraqi embassies, but they turned him away.  ...

link

To be fair this is no crazier than his earlier actions in trying to claim political asylum in Iran and Iraq.

[Chris_]

Maybe he should contact Jeff Dunham and help him write jokes for Achmed The Dead Terrorist.   

[MarshallLaw]

This guy may have a point.

I'd say he'd have to be a damn good songwriter if he wrote songs for Britney Spears, Bruce Springsteen and Pink.

Not many people can write in bubblehead, mumble and drivel.

[dutch508]

Is he a bunnie lover? I mean, really, that's all we NEED to know.

[Ptarmigan]

Is he a bunnie lover? I mean, really, that's all we NEED to know.

If he is a bunny lover, it's off to Hell for him.