Free Republic

The government’s jailing of terrorism witnesses for a grand jury probe of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is unconstitutional, a federal judge concluded Tuesday in dismissing a perjury case against a Jordanian college student. In a ruling that, if upheld, would have far reaching implications on the government’s approach to investigating terrorism, Judge Shira Scheindlin attacked the reasoning of Attorney General John Ashcroft. She criticized Ashcroft’s reported statement that “aggressive detention of lawbreakers and material witnesses is vital to preventing, disrupting or delaying new attacks.” Scheindlin wrote that “Relying on the material witness statute to detain people who are presumed...

No Case Vs. Man Who Knew Hijackers Tue Apr 30,12:29 PM ET By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - A federal judge threw out a perjury indictment Tuesday against a Jordanian college student who knew two alleged Sept. 11 hijackers, citing errors made when investigators applied for an arrest warrant. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin dismissed the indictment after concluding that Osama Awadallah, 21, was unlawfully arrested after he was taken from his San Diego home several days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "Awadallah was effectively seized," she wrote. Scheindlin said that federal statute does not...

The public outcry around the plight of Brittney Griner is growing louder — and that spells trouble for President Biden, who has been unable to free the basketball star from detention in Russia. Griner wrote to Biden in recent days saying she was “terrified I might be here forever”. Her wife, Cherelle, appears to have lost patience with the administration to take a low-profile approach to Brittney’s jailing. On Tuesday, Cherelle Griner told “CBS Mornings” that it was “very disheartening” not to have heard from Biden directly. Cherelle Griner added: “It kills me every time that, you know, when I...

The carnage began in the Glenwood Houses in Brooklyn, where 26-year-old Lamar Antonio Blackwood was shot repeatedly Friday evening. Later that night, another man was murdered in the Bronx and two were killed in Queens. Four men were shot to death and at least five people were wounded in an eruption of violence across the five boroughs overnight, cops said Saturday. The mayhem left a young man lifeless in Brooklyn, a teenage boy murdered in the Bronx and two men killed in Queens, police said. The carnage began in the lobby of an apartment building in the Glenwood Houses in...

A federal judge has ordered a new trial for a woman serving 75 years in prison after she was convicted as a getaway driver in an armored-truck robbery in which a guard and two policemen were killed. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said Judith Clark deserves a new trial because no one represented her interests in the courtroom after she insisted on remaining in a cell outside court as the evidence was unveiled in court. The judge said ... that Clark, 56, knowingly and intelligently waived her right to a lawyer. But she said the trial judge failed to ensure...