SECRECY:  FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT SUITS

Case:  Center for National Security Studies, et al. v. U.S. Department of Justice, filed on December 6, 2001 in USDC-DC before Judge Kessler.  Pleadings available at CNSS Website at www.cnss.gwu.edu/~cnss/cnssvdoj.htm. Appeal of government’s denial of an FOIA request seeking information regarding the 9-11 detainees

 Plaintiffs:  Center for National Security Studies; American Civil Liberties Union; Electronic Privacy Information Center; American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee; American Immigration Law Foundation; American Immigration Lawyers Association; Amnesty International USA; Arab-American Institute; Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Center for Constitutional Rights; Center for Democracy and Technology; Council on American Islamic Relations; Human Rights Watch; The Multiracial Activist; The Nation Magazine; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; National Black Police Association, Inc.; Partnership for Civil Injustice, Inc.; People for the American Way Foundation; Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; World Organization Against Torture of the Press.  

Attorneys:  David Sobel for Electronic Privacy Information Center (202-483-1140); Arthur Spitzer for ACLU of the National Capital Area (202-457-0800); Kate Martin for Center for National Security Studies (202-994-7060); Steven Shapiro and Lucas Guttentag for national ACLU (212-549-2500); Elliot Mincberg for People for the American Way (202-467-4999)

Case:  ACLU of New Jersey v. County of Hudson.  N.J. Sup. Ct. Law Div., April 12, 2002, available at www.judiciary.state.nj.us/ditalia/aclu.htm.  New Jersey Superior Court ruled that under state FOIA law, the Hudson and Passaic County jails must release the names of the INS detainees being held there.  DOJ has not only appealed, but has issued an interim regulation that purports to override state law in New Jersey and elsewhere by prohibiting state and local officials from releasing names of INS detainees housed in their facilities.  67 F.R. 19508  (April 22, 2002)

Plaintiffs:  ACLU of NJ, Inc. and Deborah Jacobs (Executive Director of NJ ACLU)

 Attorneys:  Ronald Chen of Rutgers Constitutional Litigation Clinic, Center for Law & Justice (973-353-5378); Edward Barocas of NJ ACLU (973-642-2068); Howard Moskowitz (201-239-0100)

Case:  Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft, U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5839 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 3, 2002). Consolidated with Detroit News v. Ashcroft.  Challenge to Creppy Memo re “special interest cases” and closed hearings.  Judge Nancy Edmonds of the USDC in Michigan granted the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction and held that they had established a likelihood of success on the claim that the blanket closure of deportation hearings was unconstitutional.  The Detroit Free Press and other newspapers had sued to attend the hearings of a Muslim community leader, Rabih Haddad, who was arrested post-September 11 for overstaying a six-month tourist visa. The Sixth Circuit has denied the government’s motion for a stay of the district court order on the grounds that the government failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits.  Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft, No. 02-1437 (6^th Cir. Apr. 19, 2002).  

Plaintiffs:  Detroit Free Press, Inc.; Herald Company, Inc.; Rabih Haddad

Attorneys:  Herschel Fink and Brian Wassom of Honigman Miller (Detroit, MI) for Detroit Free Press, Inc.; Jonathan Rowe of Soble & Rowe (Ann Arbor, MI) for Herald Company, Inc.; Elizabeth Gleicher of Gleicher & Patek (Detroit, MI) for Rabih Haddad; Leonard Niehoff of Butzel Long (Ann Arbor, MI), Lee Gelernt of ACLU (national office), and Michael Steinberg of ACLU (Detroit, MI) for Detroit News.

Case: Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft, Filed August 26, 2002 in US before

Plantiffs: Detroit Free Press

Attoneys: Herschel P. Fink, Honigman Miller (Detroit, MI); Lee Gelernt, American Civil Liberties Foundation, (New York, NY)

SPECIAL CONFINEMENT CONDITIONS IMPOSED ON DETAINEES

Case:  Turkmen v. Ashcroft, 02-CV-0230007 (E.D.N.Y. 2002), complaint filed April 17, 2002, available at: http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/turkmenash41702cmp.pdf.  This case was brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of 3 INS detainees who were deported, alleging that they were detained in abusive conditions.

Plaintiffs:  Center for Constitutional Rights; Ibrahim Turkmen; Asif-ur-Rehman Saffi; Syed Amjad Ali Jaffri

Attorneys:  Barbara Olshansky, Nancy Chang, William Goodman, Jennifer Green, Robert Perry of the Center for Constitutional Rights (212-614-6439 or 212-614-6420); David Cole, CCR Cooperating Counsel, (202-662-9078); Paul Hoffman of Schorbrun, De Simone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman, LLP for plaintiffs

MATERIAL WITNESS DETENTIONS

Case:  United States v. Osama Awadallah, No. 01-Dr-1026, slip op. at 59 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 30, 2002), available at:  http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/courtweb/Default.htm.  Ruling by Judge Scheindlin dismissing perjury charges against Mr. Awadallah, who had been held as a material witness in the post-September 11 investigation, on the ground that his detention was unlawful because since 1789 no Congress has granted the government the authority to imprison an innocent person in order to guarantee that he will testify before a grand jury conducting a criminal investigation.

Defendant:  Osma Awadallah

Attorney:  Jesse Berman, Esq. (212-431-4600)

EAVESDROPPING ON ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS

Case:  Mohamed Rashid Daoud Al’-Owhali v. Ashcroft, filed on May 8, 2002 in USDC-DC to overturn new regulations that allow the government to eavesdrop on conversations between lawyers and terrorism suspects.

Plaintiff:  Mohamed Rashid Daoud Al’-Owhali

Attorneys:  Frederick H. Cohn of New York, NY (212-768-1110) and A.J. Kramer of the Federal Public Defender’s Office (202-208-7500)

CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENT FOR AIRPORT SECURITY SCREENERS

Case:  Gebin v. Mineta, filed on January 17, 2002 in USDC-Central District of California challenging the citizenship requirement for continuing employment imposed on screeners at the Los Angeles and San Francisco International Airports.

Plaintiffs:  Jeimy Gebin; Vicente Crisologo; Christina Roberson; Lay Kheng Tan; Erlinda Valencia; Ruperta Gonzalas Boja; Alba Reyes; Eleanor Miranda; Pablo Dominguez

Attorneys:  Mark Rosenbaum and Ben Wizner of the Southern California ACLU (213-977-9500); Judith Scott and Orrin Baird of the Service Employees International Union (202-898-3200); Steven Shapiro of the ACLU (national office/NY/212-549-2500); Lucas Guttentag of the ACLU (Immigrants’ Rights Project/Oakland, CA/ 510-625-2010); Alan Schlosser and Jayashri Srikantiah of the Northern California ACLU (415-621-2493); Jordan Budd of the San Diego ACLU (619-232-2121); Robert Rubin and Philip Hwang of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (415-543-9444); Rodel Rodis of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (San Francisco/415-334-7800); Vincent Eng of the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (Washington, DC/ 202-296-2300); Antonia Hernandez, Hector Villagra and Belinda Escobosa of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (Los Angeles/213-629-2512); Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of Southern California (213-740-2539)

AIRLINE DISCRIMINATION LAWSUITS

Five lawsuits filed across the country on June 4, 2002 accusing American, Continental, Northwest and United Airlines of discrimination against five men who were ejected from flights based on alleged prejudices of airline employees and passengers.

Complaints available at the ACLU website (www.aclu.org).

               

NEW JERSEY

Case:  Edgardo S. Cureg et al. v. Continental Airlines, filed in USDC-NJ

Plaintiffs:  Edgardo S. Cureg and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

Attorneys:  Reginald T. Shufford, Vincent Warren and Spencer Freedman of the national ACLU (212-549-2500); Edward Barocas and John C. Salyer of NJ ACLU (973-642-2084)

Case:  Michael Dasrath et al. v. Continental Airlines, filed in USDC-NJ

Plaintiffs:  Michael Dasrath and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

Attorneys:  Reginald T. Shufford, Vincent Warren and Spencer Freedman of the national ACLU (212-549-2500); Edward Barocas and John C. Salyer of the NJ ACLU (973-642-2084)

MARYLAND

Case:  Hassan Sader et al. v. American Airlines Inc., filed in USDC-Northern District of MD

Plaintiffs:  Hassan Sader and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

Attorneys:  David Rocah of the MD ACLU (410-889-8555)

CALIFORNIA

Case:  Arshad Chowdhury v. Northwest Airlines Corporation, filed in USDC-Northern District of CA

Plaintiff:  Arshad Chowdhury

Attorneys:  Christy Lopez and Kelli Evans of Relman & Associates in Washington, DC (202-728-1888); Jayashri Srikantiah and Alan L. Schlosser of the Northern CA ACLU (415-621-2493)

Case:  Assem Bayaa, et al. v. United Airlines, filed in USDC-Central District of CA

Plaintiffs:  Assem Bayaa and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

Attorneys:  Ben Wizner; Peter J. Eliasberg and Mark D. Rosenbaum of Southern CA ACLU (213-977-9500); Reginald T. Shuford of the national ACLU (212-549-2500)

HABEAS CORPUS ACTIONS CHALLENGING DETENTIONS

These cases have been mooted by deportation after filing.  Both cases challenged the detention of a non-citizen who had been ordered deported from the US and who was willing to leave but whom the government refused to release or deport.

Case:  Sami Mohamed El Maghrabi Saad v. John Ashcroft, et al., filed on April 26, 2002 at USDC-NJ.

Plaintiff:  Sami Mohamed El Maghrabi Saad

Attorneys:  Heli Myyrylainen-Awany of Friedman & Pearlman (201-653-7370); Lucas Guttentag, Lee Gelernt and Ahilan Arulananthan of the ACLU (Immigrants’ Right Project/NY/)

Case:  Sidina Ould Moustapha v. Ashcroft, et al., filed at USDC-NJ.

Plaintiff:  Sidina Ould Moustapha

Attorney:  Sandra Nichols (NY/212-406-7363)

JOSE PADILLA AMICUS BRIEF

http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/padillabush702ambrf.pdf

Brief of Amici Curiae filed at the USDC-Southern District of NY by The New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Attorney:  Donald Rehkopf, Jr. of Brenna & Brenna (Rochester, NY/ 585-454-2000) for Amici Curiae.