Judge green-lights ‘kill list’ lawsuit
By JOSH GERSTEIN
A lawsuit challenging the U.S. government's use of a so-called kill list to target suspected terrorists for drone attack overseas can go forward in part, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer rejected the government's bid to dismiss the entirety of the the case brought last year by former Al Jazeera Islamabad bureau chief Ahmad Zaidan and freelance journalist Bilal Kareem.
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"Due process is not merely an old and dusty procedural obligation required by Robert’s Rules. Instead, it is a living, breathing concept that protects U.S. persons from overreaching government action even, perhaps, on an occasion of war," wrote Collyer, an appointee of President George W. Bush. "As a U.S. citizen, he seeks to clarify his status and profession to Defendants and, thereby, assert his right to due process and a prior opportunity to be heard. His interest in avoiding the erroneous deprivation of his life is uniquely compelling."
Collyer rejected arguments from Justice Department attorneys that the case raised political questions ill-suited for resolution by the judicial branch and intruded on military judgments left to the executive.
"Mr. Kareem is not in U.S. custody and, if targeted because he is on the Kill List, may well have been identified by means other than his name, profession, place of birth, and the like. Now that he has made it to a U.S. court, however, his constitutional rights as a citizen must be recognized," the judge wrote in her 30-page opinion. "These are weighty matters of law and fact but constitutional questions are the bread and butter of the federal judiciary."
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excellent, excellent! i'm glad the government can't kill people randomly simply by calling them inconvenient.
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twoeleven
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Date: Jun. 14th, 2018 01:58 am (UTC)