In a 2-1 ruling, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated civil claims against former Attorney General John Ashcroft (pictured), former FBI Director Robert Mueller and ex-immigration boss James Ziglar.
Top officials during the George W. Bush era can be held legally liable for the roundup of innocent detainees post-9/11, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
In a 2-1 ruling, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated civil claims against former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former FBI Director Robert Mueller and ex-immigration boss James Ziglar.
The three may have exceeded the constitutional limits of their authority in the rush to find those responsible for the 9/11 attacks, Judges Judges Rosemary Pooler and Richard Wesley wrote.
The three may have exceeded the constitutional limits of their authority in the rush to find those responsible for the 9/11 attacks, Judges Judges Rosemary Pooler and Richard Wesley wrote. Pictured is James Ziglar.
“It might well be that national security concerns motivated the defendants to take action, but that is of little solace to those who felt the brunt of that decision,” they wrote.
“The suffering endured by those who were imprisoned merely because they were caught up in the hysteria of the days immediately following 9/11 is not without a remedy.”
Civil claims against former FBI Director Robert Mueller (pictured) were also reinstated.
The 2002 suit said 762 detainees were held for months though they were charged with minor civil immigration violations. Rachel Meeropol, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the case, said she was “delighted” with the ruling.
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