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Court to decide on Ashcroft's immunity
Oooops. They spelled it wrong. A-S-H-K-K-K-R-O-F-T. That's better...The US Supreme Court will decide on whether cabinet-level officials will be immune from a lawsuit from war on terror victims. The nine Supreme Court justices are set to make a ruling by June 2009. Former attorney general John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller have sought immunity from the charges in a lawsuit filed by Javaid Iqbal, a Pakistani national. Iqbal was among more than 700 Muslim men from the New York City area rounded up after the September 11, 2001 attacks. While they were all eventually charged with immigration violations or minor crimes, none was linked to terrorism. Iqbal is suing Ashcroft and Mueller, amongst others, for targeting the men for investigation and punitive detention, sidestepping procedural protections usually granted to such detainees. Iqbal, who was held at a maximum security section of a Brooklyn federal prison, says he was subjected to harsh treatment and discrimination and that federal officials classified him as a "high interest" suspect because he was a Muslim from Pakistan. A June 2003 report by the Department of Justice inspector general found "significant problems" in the treatment of detainees like Iqbal. Iqbal's lawsuit says Ashcroft and Mueller approved the policy of holding post-September 11 detainees in solitary confinement. Lawyers for Ashcroft and Mueller say their clients have "qualified immunity" from this lawsuit and similar ones because they were not personally involved in the detainee mistreatment and did not know about Iqbal. Some critics have assailed Ashcroft over the Patriot Act, the legislation that broadened law enforcement powers after September 11, saying it did so at the expense of civil liberties.
Posted by: Fred 2008-12-11 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=256976 |