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al-Kidd's complaint was turned down 8-0, validating then Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's use of terrorist case related material witness detentions.
Justice Elena Kagan recused herself, the second recent case in which she has done so because of contact with the cases before she joined the Supreme Court. This raises the real possibility she will also have to recuse herself from the Obamacare case.
LA Times....
Justice Elena Kagan recused herself, the second recent case in which she has done so because of contact with the cases before she joined the Supreme Court. This raises the real possibility she will also have to recuse herself from the Obamacare case.
LA Times....
Supreme Court tosses out lawsuit accusing John Ashcroft of misusing his power
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously threw out a lawsuit against former Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft that had accused him of misusing his power to arrest suspects as "material witnesses" in terrorism cases.
The decision continues the court's trend of shielding top Bush administration officials from lawsuits over their conduct in the "war on terrorism."
By an 8-0 vote, the court said Ashcroft's use of the law was reasonable and did not clearly violate the 4th Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The decision tosses out a lawsuit by Abdullah al Kidd, a former University of Idaho football player who was arrested at Dulles Airport and held for two weeks, ostensibly so he could serve as a witness in a pending case. He was never called to testify. Critics had said Ashcroft had misused this authority as a means of seizing people even when the government had no reason to believe they had committed a crime.
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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously threw out a lawsuit against former Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft that had accused him of misusing his power to arrest suspects as "material witnesses" in terrorism cases.
The decision continues the court's trend of shielding top Bush administration officials from lawsuits over their conduct in the "war on terrorism."
By an 8-0 vote, the court said Ashcroft's use of the law was reasonable and did not clearly violate the 4th Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The decision tosses out a lawsuit by Abdullah al Kidd, a former University of Idaho football player who was arrested at Dulles Airport and held for two weeks, ostensibly so he could serve as a witness in a pending case. He was never called to testify. Critics had said Ashcroft had misused this authority as a means of seizing people even when the government had no reason to believe they had committed a crime.
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