| Supreme court rejects appeal over secret 911 detentions { September 11 2001 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/12/scotus.terrorism.secrecy/http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/12/scotus.terrorism.secrecy/
Supreme Court rejects appeal over secret 9/11 detentions From Bill Mears CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) --The Supreme Court Monday allowed the government to keep secret information about hundreds of people rounded up under suspicion of terrorism in the months following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The justices without comment refused to accept an appeal bought by a Washington think tank representing Arab-American groups and some civil rights activists.
At issue was the government's refusal to release information on about 700 mostly Muslim- or Arab-Americans detained by federal authorities. Various media outlets including CNN filed a brief supporting public access to the information.
The center, the Center for National Security Studies, sued to learn names and other basic information about the detainees. The appeal raised constitutional questions under the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and legal questions under the federal Freedom of Information Act.
Most of the suspects were held by immigration authorities, and were investigated and questioned for possible terrorism connections. Nearly all were subsequently released, and some were eventually deported for various immigration violations.
A federal appeals court agreed with the Department of Justice's assertion of executive authority.
The case announced Monday is Center for National Security Studies v. Dept. of Justice, case no. 03-0472.
"It is the responsibility of courts, and especially this court, to provide meaningful judicial review when the government invokes national security to justify unprecedented secrecy in exercising its awesome power to arrest and detain hundreds of people," lawyers for the organization argued in a court filing, according to The Associated Press.
"History shows that, in times of crisis and fear, executive officials are prone to overreact, especially in their treatment of minorities in their midst," the appeal said.
The high court is planning elsewhere to consider cases involving prisoner rights in the context of anti-terrorist efforts.
The Supreme Court has already accepted two such cases, one dealing with the rights of prisoners held overseas at a U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Additionally, justices will consider whether so-called "enemy combatants" who are also U.S. citizens deserve to have their appeals heard by federal courts. In this case, an American suspect named Yasser Hamdi was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan and is being held in secret military custody.
|
|