Thread: U.S. to Pay $1.2 Million to 5 Detainees Over Abuse Lawsuit

U.S. to Pay $1.2 Million to 5 Detainees Over Abuse Lawsuit
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: November 2, 2009

The federal government is paying $1.2 million to settle the cases of five Muslim immigrants who sued over their detention and treatment in a Brooklyn jail after 9/11, when hundreds of noncitizens were rounded up and held for months before being cleared of links to terrorism and deported.

The five were part of a larger lawsuit, Turkmen v. Ashcroft, which will continue to press the argument that the roundups and physical abuse they say they suffered were unconstitutional.

The government admits no liability or fault under the terms of the settlements, filed late Monday in United States District Court in Brooklyn. Charles S. Miller, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said the government would not comment.

But Rachel Meeropol, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents the detainees, said the amount the government is willing to pay speaks volumes.

“I believe a settlement of this size is a deterrent to the United States from ever again rounding up innocent noncitizens based only on suspicion about their race and religion,â€

Disgusting...