Fwd: [ NOLA_C3_Discussion] Judge: Patriot Act challenge can proceed

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Ward Reilly <wardpeace

Oct 4, 2006 8:11 AM

[NOLA_C3_Discussion] Judge: Patriot Act challenge can proceed

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Judge: Patriot Act challenge can proceed

 

By JIM IRWIN, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 3, 10:55 PM ET

 

http://news./s/ap/20061004/ap_on_re_us/patriot_act_lawsuit_1

 

DETROIT - Nearly three years after hearing arguments in the case, a federal

judge has ruled that an

American Civil Liberties Union challenge to the constitutionality of the USA

Patriot Act may proceed.

 

 

The ACLU's clients, including Muslim charities, social services

organizations and advocacy groups, have shown they have been harmed by the

anti-terrorism law adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S.

District Judge Denise Page Hood said in a 15-page ruling issued Friday.

 

The lawsuit was filed in July 2003 on behalf of the Muslim Community

Association of Ann Arbor and five other nonprofit groups. The ACLU said its

clients had been hurt by the Patriot Act because fear of the law has kept

many people from attending religious services and making charitable

donations.

 

It was the first legal challenge to the part of the Patriot Act that let

agents obtain such things as library lists and medical information.

 

The ACLU contended Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows the

FBI access to any " tangible things " such as books and documents through an

order from a secret court, does not require investigators to show probable

cause.

 

The group wants the judge to declare Section 215 unconstitutional, and block

the Justice Department from using that part of the Patriot Act.

 

Hood's ruling had been awaited since a Dec. 3, 2003, hearing at which the

government argued the lawsuit should be dismissed. Federal officials later

argued that amendments approved by Congress in March 2006 had corrected any

constitutional flaws in the Patriot Act. Hood's ruling gave the plaintiffs

30 days to amend their initial complaint in light of those amendments.

 

Kary Moss, Michigan director of the ACLU, told the Detroit Free Press she

would consult with her clients before deciding whether to proceed with the

lawsuit.

 

The government had argued the law does not violate the Fourth Amendment

because the protections against unreasonable search and seizure do not apply

to information or items that have been given to third parties, even if there

is an understanding of confidentiality.

 

Messages seeking comment were left after business hours Tuesday with the

Justice Department in Washington and the U.S. attorney's office in Detroit.

 

Hood acknowledged it took " an extraordinary amount of time " to issue her

ruling, adding, " the issues raised on the complaint and in the government's

papers are important to us all. "