Through my website publication (The Multiracial Activist), I am a plaintiff in a lawsuit launched by the Center for National Security Studies (CNSS) regarding secret arrests and detentions by the Administration since September 11. I’ve added a new page to this website with links to the major filings regarding this legal action. Reprinted below is a press release sent today by Sarah Margon of CNSS.
ORAL ARGUMENT ON THE GOVERNMENT’S APPEAL IN 9/11 SECRET ARRESTS CASE
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 9:30 AM
US COURT OF APPEALS, DC CIRCUIT, COURTROOM 20, SIXTH FLOORContact: Ken Gude or Sarah Margon at 202-721-5650
Washington, DC – On Monday, November 18, Judges Sentelle, Henderson, and Tatel of the DC Circuit will hear oral argument on the government’s appeal in the secret arrests case, Center for National Security Studies v. Department of Justice. Kate Martin, Director of the Center for National Security Studies, will argue the case for the plaintiffs. Counsel will be available for comment after the argument.
On August 2, Judge Gladys Kessler of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the government must identify all individuals it had arrested and detained in the course of its September 11 investigation.
In the district court decision, Judge Kessler stated that, “secret arrests are a concept odious to a democratic society and profoundly antithetical to the bedrock values that characterize a free and open one such as ours.”
The organizations participating in the law suit include: the ACLU, American Immigration Law Foundation, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Amnesty International USA, Arab American Institute, Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Democracy and Technology, Center for National Security Studies, Council on American Islamic Relations, Electronic Privacy Information Center, First Amendment Foundation, Human Rights Watch, The Multiracial Activist, The Nation Magazine, People for the American Way Foundation, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and World Organization Against Torture, USA.