Judge tosses ACLU’s targeted-killing case

According to the Washington Times, U.S. District Judge John Bates has thrown-out a case brought against the US government by the father of terror-cleric and US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki who has been targeted by the government because of evidence that he has been involved in the Nidal Hasan shooting spree in Fort Hood, TX and the Christmas underwear bomber.

Bates says that al-Awlaki’s father has no standing to bring the case to the court, although Bates, an Army veteran himself, appeared to want to try the case;

The cleric’s father, Nasser al-Awlaki of Yemen, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, argued that international law and the Constitution prevented the administration from unilaterally targeting his son for death unless he presents a specific imminent threat to life or physical safety and there are no other means to stop him. The suit also tried to force the government to disclose standards for determining whether U.S. citizens like his son, born in New Mexico, can be targeted for death.

Administration officials argued the court has no legal authority to review the president as he makes military decisions to protect Americans against terrorist attacks.

I guess the ACLU smelled a fund-raising opportunity.

Category: Legal, Terror War