[Infowarrior] - Judge rejects Ashcroft's immunity claim in computer terror case

[Richard Forno]

 Judge rejects Ashcroft's immunity claim
http://tinyurl.com/fmczc

By REBECCA BOONE, Associated Press WriterWed Sep 27, 9:09 PM ET

Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft could be called to testify in a
lawsuit that claims a student was wrongly imprisoned in a computer terrorism
case, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge rejected Ashcroft's argument to toss out
the lawsuit because he was entitled to absolute immunity since his position
at the Department of Justice was prosecutorial.

Abdullah al-Kidd, who played football for the University of Idaho, claimed
government wrongfully arrested him in the case against a fellow student,
Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, in 2003.

They both worked for the Islamic Assembly of North America, a Michigan-based
charitable organization that federal investigators said funneled money to
activities supporting terrorism and published material advocating suicide
attacks on the United States.

A jury acquitted Al-Hussayen of using his computer skills to foster
terrorism and of three immigration violations after an eight-week federal
trial. But Al-Hussayen ‹ who was only months from finishing his doctorate
study at the University of Idaho ‹ was eventually deported to Saudi Arabia.

Al-Kidd was never called to testify, but he spent two weeks in jail as a
material witness and was later released to the custody of his wife with
strict limitations on where he could travel.

His lawsuit claimed Ashcroft was personally liable for violating his rights
because after the terrorist attacks Ashcroft "created a national policy to
improperly seek material witness warrants, oversaw the execution of such
warrants, and failed to correct the constitutional violations of conducting
such actions," according court documents. Al-Kidd said the investigation and
detainment not only caused him to lose a scholarship to study in Saudi
Arabia, but that it cost him employment opportunities.

The ruling also means U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and others in
the Department of Homeland Security could be called to testify in the
lawsuit.

"We are literally reviewing it at this minute and no, we have not made any
decisions at this time," Charles Miller, spokesman for the Justice
Department's civil division, said of the ruling.

Al-Kidd's attorney, Lee Gelernt with the ACLU's national headquarters in New
York, called the ruling a "vindication" for al-Kidd.

"It will hopefully deter the government from using the material witness
statute in the future in the way they did after Sept. 11," Gelernt said.

Al-Kidd is asking the judge to declare that the federal government's actions
were unconstitutional, to order the FBI and other agencies to expunge any
records relating to the unlawful detention of al-Kidd and others, and for
unspecified damages.