[Peace-discuss] No change

[C. G. Estabrook]

	Obama Administration Seeks Supreme Court Review of
	Decision Declaring Patriot Act Provision Unconstitutional

The Obama administration today sought Supreme Court review of a decision 
declaring a USA Patriot Act provision unconstitutional. The case, Holder v. 
Humanitarian Law Project, originally brought by the Center for Constitutional 
Rights (CCR) in 1998, challenges the constitutionality of the law that makes it 
a crime to provide "material support" to groups the administration has 
designated as "terrorist." The lower courts have unanimously declared several 
provisions of the law -- including one added by the USA Patriot Act -- 
unconstitutionally vague. The "material support" statute makes it a crime to 
provide money or goods, "training," "personnel," "expert advice or assistance," 
and "services" to any organization placed on the list of "foreign terrorist 
organizations" maintained by the State Department. Convictions can result in 
sentences of 15 years to life. The statute requires no showing that the donor 
intended to further any act of terrorism or violence. The lower courts held 
unconstitutionally vague the law's prohibition on the provision of "services," 
"expert advice or assistance," and "training," reasoning that these terms could 
easily encompass a wide range of lawful speech, such as providing training in 
international law, and left citizens to guess at their meaning...