Obama Administration Defending Law that Makes Speech Advocating Human Rights a Terrorist Crime
November 17, 2009, New York – Yesterday, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed the first brief in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the first case to challenge a portion of the Patriot Act before the Supreme Court. The case, originally brought in 1998 on behalf of a human rights group, a retired federal administrative judge, a doctor, and several nonprofit groups, challenges the constitutionality of the law that makes it a crime to provide “material support” to groups the administration has designated as “terrorist.” In particular, the plaintiffs charge that the law goes too far in making speech advocating lawful, nonviolent activity a crime. The lower courts have unanimously declared several provisions of the law – including one added by the Patriot Act – unconstitutionally vague because they encompass speech and force citizens to guess as to their meaning.
Filed under: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education Industrial Complex, Free Speech, Information, Military Industrial Complex, Prison Industrial Complex, Privacy | Tagged: Center for Constitutional Rights, David D. Cole, Department of State, First Amendment, Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, Humanitarian Law Project, Kurdish, Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Patriot Act, Ralph D. Fertig, Secretary of State, Supreme Court, University of Southern California, University of Southern California School of Social Work | Leave a comment »