U.S. Resident Indefinitely Detained Without Charge Secures His Day In Court
Adham Hassoun will finally have his day in court. A federal judge has rejected the government鈥檚 sweeping claim that it can, on its own say-so, indefinitely imprison him without charge and without a fair trial.
Adham is a long-time U.S. resident and a father of three. As we previously explained, Adham completed his criminal sentence and was set to be released from prison almost three years ago. But the government 鈥� claiming unprecedented and unconstitutional powers 鈥� is seeking to keep him locked up indefinitely, perhaps for the rest of his life, based on executive fiat.
Adham is challenging his unconstitutional detention in court. We're representing Adham together with the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Clinical Legal Education Program of the University at Buffalo School of Law, and the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic University of Chicago Law School.
In December, the district court rejected one of the government鈥檚 two justifications for detaining Adham. The government argued that, under a rarely-used administrative , it could unilaterally declare Adham a danger to national security and deny him the basic rudiments of due process. The government claimed Adham had no chance to contest the accusations against him before a judge, and said he instead had to prove his innocence to the very people trying to keep him imprisoned. In its ruling, the court rightfully recognized that depriving a person of liberty through such a flimsy and one-sided process raises serious constitutional problems, and declared the regulation 鈥渁 legal nullity.鈥�
The court also rejected the government鈥檚 second argument 鈥� that it could detain Adham under a never-before used provision of the without first affording him a judicial hearing. Normally, even when individuals are ordered removed under immigration laws, the government can鈥檛 continue detaining them unless it will actually be able to remove them in the foreseeable future. A judge has already ruled that Adham鈥檚 removal isn鈥檛 foreseeable because there is no country he can be sent to, but instead of releasing him 鈥� as our Constitution and values require 鈥� the government has opted to keep him locked up based on an assertion that he鈥檚 dangerous. According to the government, the Patriot Act allows the executive branch to keep a supposedly 鈥渄angerous鈥� person behind bars forever, no matter how flimsy the evidence against him, with no significant review by a judge.
As we argued to the court, the government cannot use the Patriot Act to circumvent Adham鈥檚 constitutional rights. If the government has reason to detain Adham, it must charge him with a crime or at least present its evidence before a court and give Adham an opportunity to mount a defense 鈥� as the Constitution demands.
In a win for constitutional rights, the judge has ordered that Adham at minimum be given a fair hearing, which is scheduled for April 28. There, the government will be required to prove to the court that Adham鈥檚 detention is justified. It will also need to convince the judge that the flimsy evidence it allegedly has against Adham meets the rigorous clear and convincing evidence standard, which properly places a significant onus on the government to strip a person of his or her liberty. The judge already expressed skepticism of any evidence relying on anonymous hearsay 鈥� that is, information a witness does not have personal knowledge of, including things they heard second- and third-hand from others.
Additionally, the court rejected the government鈥檚 plea to hold the hearing at the federal detention center in Batavia, New York, where Adham is imprisoned and where public access could be restricted. Instead, the court said the hearing will be at a federal courthouse in Buffalo, New York, noting that 鈥淸o]ne of the strongest pillars of our system of justice in the United States is the presumption that all judicial proceedings are open to the public whom the judiciary serves.鈥�
Adham is getting his long-awaited day in court. We鈥檒l be there to hold the government to its burden, and to defend his 鈥� and our 鈥� right to liberty.
Learn More 老澳门开奖结果 the Issues on This Page
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Free Speech
National Security
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
National Security
Religious Liberty
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VirginiaDec 2024
National Security
Trabelsi v. Crawford, et al. 鈥� Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Detention and Inhumane Treatment of Acquitted ManTrabelsi v. Crawford, et al. 鈥� Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Detention and Inhumane Treatment of Acquitted Man
Our client, Nizar Trabelsi, is in the United States against his will. The federal government brought him here from Belgium more than a decade ago and charged him with terrorism-related crimes. At trial, the government鈥檚 case failed: a federal jury found Mr. Trabelsi not guilty. But instead of allowing Mr. Trabelsi to return to Belgium after his acquittal, the United States placed him in highly restrictive immigration detention and began an ongoing effort to force him to Tunisia, where he was born and where he will very likely be tortured. Mr. Trabelsi鈥檚 detention violates the Constitution, immigration law, and the extradition treaty between the United States and Belgium. Through this lawsuit, he seeks to return to Belgium, and he demands an immediate improvement of his detention conditions. -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
National Security
Immigrants' Rights
Federal Judge Rejects Acquitted Man鈥檚 Argument That His Immigration Detention Is UnlawfulFederal Judge Rejects Acquitted Man鈥檚 Argument That His Immigration Detention Is Unlawful
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