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'Terror' Witness Can Sue Senior Bush Official: Court
WASHINGTON - Former US president George W. Bush's top law enforcer John Ashcroft could be sued and held personally responsible for the wrongful detention of a US "terror" witness, a federal court of appeals said.
Former US president George W. Bush's top law enforcer John Ashcroft, pictured last year, could be sued and be held personally responsible for the wrongful detention of a US "terror" witness, a federal court of appeals said.
(AFP/Getty Images/File/Alex Wong) Placing responsibility on the shoulders of US officials in the Bush administration, and specifically Ashcroft, who was attorney general at the time, the judge at the ninth circuit court of appeals in Boise, Idaho ruled Friday in favor of Abdullah al-Kidd, an American citizen who brought the complaint.
The "aggressive detention of lawbreakers and material witnesses is vital to preventing, disrupting or delaying new attacks," Ashcroft said at the time, in a statement quoted in court.
The decision Friday, however, came after a 2006 ruling that found material witness law could only be employed when an individual is genuinely sought as a witness and there was a flight risk; not to be used as a preventive action.
Arrested on March 16, 2003 at Washington's Dulles Airport, al-Kidd was held for 13 months in maximum security prisons. Officials wanted to use him as a witness in the trial of another suspect in the investigation on the September 11th, 2001 attacks, Sami Omar al-Hussayen.
Material witness charges against Al-Kidd were eventually dropped and he was never called to testify in court.
His case stems from losing potential employment because of his security history and the legal complaint against Ashcroft's efforts to "preventively" detain or investigate suspects.
Judge Milan Smith, writing for the court's majority decisions, said that those who wrote the US Constitution "would have disapproved of the arrest, detention, and harsh confinement of a United States citizen as a 'material witness' under the circumstances, and for the immediate purpose alleged..."
"Sadly," Smith wrote, "some confidently assert that the government has the power to arrest and detain or restrict American citizens for months on end, in sometimes primitive conditions."
In such circumstances, he wrote, such powers were used "not because there is evidence that they have committed a crime, but merely because the government wishes to investigate them for possible wrongdoing, or to prevent them from having contact with others in the outside world."
The court, said attorney Lee Gelernt, who argued the appeal, "made it very clear today that former attorney general Ashcroft's use of the federal material witness law circumvented the Constitution.
"Regardless of your rank or title, you can't escape liability if you personally created and oversaw a policy that deliberately violates the law," said Gelernt, who is with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), of which he is the deputy head of their Immigrants' Rights Project.
Ashcroft served as attorney general from 2001 until 2005. He was a key supporter of the controversial USA Patriot Act, which significantly broadened the FBI's authority to investigate Americans and other US residents to protect the country against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.
26 Comments so far
Show AllThe ACLU deserves our respect for defending against loss of our liberties and protection of democracy.
Agree. Amazing how the conservatives who claim to stand for America and wear red, white and blue, continue to undermine our liberties and protection of democracy. I'd like to see the day when justice is served to at least one of the major players of the Bush administration.
I just had a vision of that eagle Ashcroft was singing about while he was AG suddenly circling his head ready to strike. I believe the first verse is: Let the eagle soar like she's never soared before. Amen brother.
Huge discrepency between this article and the AP article today AP says 15 days in maximum security detention and then basically house arrest.
AFP says 13 months in maximum security. Which is it?
Actually I was thinking the oppossite of Pro 101 11:01--
Many Conservatives are defending the Constitution better than any other ideology as they should according to conservative ideology.
Again the left and right have more common interests, such as the Constitution, than differences. The corporations will exploit the differences to keep you quarreling amongst yourselves rather than oppossing the oppressing corporations.
The battle for freedom in the USA is being decided by which individual judges review crucial cases.
Obama has thrown his lot in with the Neocons,with his state secrets,tar sands, coal, wars and lack of war criminal trials.
The people who destroyed the USA are Neocons which are not true conservatives but ammoral proponents of greed and destruction.
It is always divide and conquer whether it is race, class, ethnicity, or ideology.
glenn ford
Ecxellent post.
But I wouldn't say Conservatives are doing a better job than Liberals at defending the Constitution. Liberals love their country and will defend the Constitution as well ior better than any Conservatives. Heck, those attributes aren't reserved to Conservatives are they?
"The people who destroyed the USA are Neocons which are not true conservatives but ammoral proponents of greed and destruction."
Excellent point. But not "destroyed", tried to destroy....America is stronger than those slimeballs.
"Again the left and right have more common interests, such as the Constitution, than differences. The corporations will exploit the differences to keep you quarreling amongst yourselves rather than oppossing the oppressing corporations."
Excellent point! Good going Glenn!!!!
He was stripped searched and confined in max for 16 days, then house arrest in his parents home.
Expect this legal issue to go all the way to the US Supreme Court. What happens then is anybody's guess; though with the conservative troglodytes on that panel, any bad outcome is possible. After all, those five did select the douche bag John Ashcroft was working for.
Go get 'em ACLU, and I'm a card carrying member. It's accountability time for these damn high ranking government war criminals. Maybe now we can have our "Tea Party" moment, as we're the damn true patriots anyway. Why else would a group such as the John Birch Society regard Thomas Jefferson as the first Communist president. If that was communism in terms of the high ideas and values of 1776, then damn it we need a whole lot more of it.
AD
A card carrying doner as well. Sue Ashcroft for his eye teeth!
The ACLU once again shows its importance to civil liberties (yes, I'm a member too).
Does this decision have any implications for the efforts to prosecute Bush officials for violating the laws prohibiting torture? In particular, the events involving Ashcroft go back about eight years. Is there a message here about the statute of limitations?
sue his ash off!
Send money.
American Justice, whether the TV series or the acuality, is nothing but a sick joke. Any nation that doesn't even enforce and uphold the "supreme law" of its own constitution, nor its most basic underlying principles, can expect no justice whatever.
If you really think that such fundamental issues can or will be addressed through civil actions against individuals, dream on. And don't forget to provide your equally effective "democratic" endorsement for the corporate party of your choice.
Well said. With a bought and paid for Supreme (idiots) Court, corruption and injustice is assured. So yeah, they can tell everybody to go ahead and sue. Republican Lawyers need a bailout too, I guess. What a farce!
This is what happens when you begin practicing "selective compliance" which our government and some cities have been guilty of. When you advocate lawlessness you get lawlessness.
Some of the most repressive governments on the planet have the most enlightened constitutions.
The USA joined that club during the Bush years.
John Ashcroft and Roy Blunt hail from Springfield Missouri, a hotbed of right-wing Baptist nuttery. These fundamentalist backwoods Baptists have little respect for the Constitution and merely mask their extremist political views with religious doctrine. That part of Missouri is a bible nuthouse and hatchery.
I think this settles the question about which part of the country contains the most stupid people.
Is it true that they all have the same DNA? Obviously too much in breeding doesn't raise the IQ level.
There's nothing more delusional than a Fundamentalist Hillbilly Baptist. If the preacher (who frequently claims God talks through him) started passing out poison kool-aid, there'd be a lot of takers. Fortunately for the his right-wing nut congregation, that never happens because the idea is to milk the flock of money so that the preacher, who never lasts more than a few years, can jet off to the islands with the prettiest wife he has cast his eyes on.
And then the cycle repeats over ad nauseam.
According to James Madison, "the father" of the constitution, the purpose of government is to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority. Being that the US is 70 percent whacked-out Christians, I'm awfully glad the founding fathers had such uncanny foresight.
Otherwise, there's nothing they couldn't justify in persecuting those with dissimilar religious beliefs. You don't want these Fundamentalist bible thumpers like Hukabee in government. They fund most of the arms purchases around the world through illegal untraceable "Faith Based Initiatives" (money laundering) which the bushmonkey carried to a whole new level. It's billed as "support for our missionaries." The type of "missionaries" they don't tell you about are the ones bearing AK-47's working for marauding Transnational corporations.
"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition" is a phrase often heard in jest with these nuts (but deep down, not really in jest at all.)
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
send the aclu money freedom isn't free! 20 dollars gets you
membership and a card.
tell the truth
To you and a couple of other posters that complimented the ACLU....I've not been a fan since the mid eighties. my card is long gone....But...
Recently with their handling of the administration when it got out of line, this and a few other things, they are regaining my respect.
Not that it means anything to you guys (lol) or to them, but when you say anything about anybody, if you express your disapproval you had darn well better speak up when you approve.
They are doing well.
I used to be a dues paying ACLU member. Then I faced trumped up felony charges, when I was running for a local political office. After beating the charges and losing the campaign against an entrenched incumbent, while managing to still get 46% of the vote, the ACLU wouldn't even return my calls and requests for legal assistance.
They are much better at taking your money than providing any assistance. Had they simply returned my call and admitted that they had no resources, I would not have been offended. However, they wouldn't even return my call. For me, they advertise false promises.
I pursued pro se civil litigation and while the court granted "immunity" to the state and its employees, I did manage to get a judgment against the private citizen that lied to the grand jury. While the financial judgment was much less severe than an appropriate felony charge for perjury, at least I received a partial victory.
I have since declined contributions to the ACLU. It's interesting that when my financial contributions ended their fundraisers called, but no one could explain why the ACLU wouldn't even acknowledge my request for help when the state violated my rights.
I support the concept of what the ACLU claims to do, but their action lacks the sincerity that their fundraisers sell to their contributors.
Hey John, while that mike is turned on why not belt out that 'Eagle Soar' song you graced us with in Charlotte? (you dumbass)
Lets hope he has a good team of Jewish Lawyers.
The courts are as corrupt as the Bush administration was.
Remember this... as an American, you have the RIGHT and OBLIGATION to judge the LAW as well as the facts, regardless of the instructions given by any corrupt judge. Additionally, you should never mention that you have any knowledge or understanding of your rights as a juror and certainly don't admit that you understand what it means to be "fully informed", as every corrupt judge or prosecutor will immediate have you removed, so as not to "corrupt" those who don't understand their rights under the US constitution.
As a juror, you have the right to ask questions, too. And as a juror, you shouldn't be forced to disclose that you've judged that the application of the law was wrongful or unjust. You can claim that your interpretation of the facts didn't add up to guilt, beyond a shadow of doubt, because the judge may throw you off the jury for disobeying his wrongful and illegal instructions.
The system operates by filling juries with the ignorant and unthinking majority, who get their information from Court TV and Dr. Laura, rather than reading and attempting to understand the plain truth as granted to the people by our Bill of Rights.
Know the truth and stop the hypocrisy of unjust and immoral laws and illegal court instructions. As an American, your rights are not limited by any corrupt judge's instruction to the contrary....