Opponents of a U.S. law they claim
may subject them to indefinite military detention for activities
including news reporting and political activism persuaded a
federal judge to temporarily block the measure.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan
yesterday ruled in favor of a group of writers and activists who
sued President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and
the Defense Department, claiming a provision of the National
Defense Authorization Act, signed into law Dec. 31, puts them in
fear that they could be arrested and held by U.S. armed forces.
The complaint was filed Jan. 13 by a group including former
New York Times reporter Christopher Hedges. The plaintiffs
contend a section of the law allows for detention of citizens
and permanent residents taken into custody in the U.S. on
“suspicion of providing substantial support” to people engaged
in hostilities against the U.S., such as al-Qaeda.
“The statute at issue places the public at undue risk of
having their speech chilled for the purported protection from
al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ‘associated forces’ - i.e., ‘foreign
terrorist organizations,’” Forrest said in an opinion
yesterday. “The vagueness of Section 1021 does not allow the
average citizen, or even the government itself, to understand
with the type of definiteness to which our citizens are
entitled, or what conduct comes within its scope.”
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