omHere's the complaint in Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. v. George W. Bush, No. 06-0274, filed February 28, 2006, in U.S. District Court in Portland. The national media don't seem to have picked it up yet, but I'm guessing there will be a feeding frenzy when some stringer gets the story out. This may be the first case of its kind.
Download alharamain_complaint.pdf
The individual plaintiffs, Wendell Belew and Asim Ghafoor, are U.S. citizens who allege that the National Security Agency listened in without a warrant on their communications with directors of Al-Haramain who apparently were in Saudi Arabia at the time. The plaintiffs' First Claim, and the one that will get the most press, alleges violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Other claims include one called "Separation of Powers" that alleges all defendants have acted in excess of the President's Article II powers [I'm not sure how they get there as to defendants other than the President, nor that it survives a political question defense.] The Complaint also has First, Fourth and Sixth Amendment claims, and an intriguing one that's brought under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, claiming that it's enforceable by incorporation through the International Convention for Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, which Congress ratified in 2002.
The case has been assigned to Judge Michael Mosman - an interesting draw. Judge Mosman is so bright it's scary (a former Lewis Powell clerk). He came up through the trial section of the U.S. Attorney's office in Portland and served briefly as Oregon's U.S. Attorney before President Bush (the present one) appointed him the the bench. Speculations from readers of this blog, about how you think Judge Mosman might deal with the case, are welcome.
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