Thread: Indefinite detention of Americans blocked by court

Federal judge blocks National Defense Authorization Act provision

By Dean Kuipers
Los Angeles Times
May 18, 2012

In a stunning turnaround for an act of Congress, a judge ruled Wednesday that a counterterrorism provision of the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual defense appropriations bill, is unconstitutional. Federal district Judge Katherine B. Forrest issued an injunction against use of the provision on behalf of a group of journalists and activists who had filed suit in March, claiming it would chill free speech.

In her decision published Wednesday, Forrest, in the Southern District of New York, ruled that Section 1021 of NDAA was facially unconstitutional � a rare finding � because of the potential that it could violate the 1st Amendment.

�Plaintiffs have stated a more than plausible claim that the statute inappropriately encroaches on their rights under the First Amendment,� she wrote, addressing the constitutional challenge.

Seven individuals, including Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times foreign correspondent Chris Hedges, MIT linguist Noam Chomsky and �Pentagon Papers� activist Daniel Ellsberg, had sued President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and a host of other government officials, stating they were forced to curtail some of their reporting and activist activities for fear of violating Section 1021. That section prohibits providing substantial support for terrorist groups, but gives little definition of what that means. Environmental activists were also poised to join the suit if it expanded.

Judge Forrest also found that the language of Section 1021 was too vague, meaning it was too hard to know when one may or may not be subject to detention.

Continue reading here
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may...uling-20120518


Such amazing and important news, I can't believe I didn't
catch wind of this story sooner.

Last month, a federal judge ruled ruled that Section 1021 of NDAA
(provision related to indefinite detention) was facially
unconstitutional.

Who knows if this will stick, or where this goes from here, but
this is great news!

Video:

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/11106.html

Goodman Green
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How did I miss this was it posted herein the past two weeks, I have been on vacation for a few weeks and totally missed this!!!