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Oregon Man Gets $2M Settlement For False Bombing Arrest The federal government has agreed to pay Oregon lawyer Brandon Mayfield $2 million to settle part of the lawsuit he filed because of his mistaken arrest by FBI agents after the 2004 Madrid terrorist bombings, Mayfield's attorney and U.S. officials said Wednesday. Mayfield was arrested here in May 2004 on the basis of a fingerprint, found on a bag of detonators in Madrid, that was incorrectly matched to Mayfield after the March 11, 2004 train bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500. He was jailed on a material witness warrant and released two weeks later. The FBI acknowledged the fingerprint was not his and apologized to him. Mayfield, a convert to Islam, charged in his lawsuit he was arrested because of his faith and that searches of his Portland area home and office violated his constitutional rights. The FBI's admission that the arrest was a mistake embarrassed the agency, forced the FBI to improve its fingerprint analysis procedures, and, on the part of Mayfield and others, prompted charges that the government targeted a Muslim convert. The settlement allows for Mayfield to pursue claims that parts of the USA Patriot Act are unconsitutional....
Apology Note The United States of America apologizes to Mr. Brandon Mayfield and his family for the suffering caused by the FBI's misidentification of Mr. Mayfield's fingerprint and the resulting investigation of Mr. Mayfield, including his arrest as a material witness in connection with the 2004 Madrid train bombings and the execution of search warrants and other court orders in the Mayfield family home and in Mr. Mayfield's law office. The United States acknowledges that the investigation and arrest were deeply upsetting to Mr. Mayfield, to Mrs. Mayfield, and to their three young children, and the United States regrets that it mistakenly linked Mr. Mayfield to this terrorist attack. The FBI has implemented a number of measures in an effort to ensure that what happened to Mr. Mayfield and the Mayfield family does not happen again.
Judge Strikes Down Bush on Terror Groups A federal judge struck down President Bush's authority to designate groups as terrorists, saying his post-Sept. 11 executive order was unconstitutional and vague. Some parts of the Sept. 24, 2001 order tagging 27 groups and individuals as "specially designated global terrorists" were too vague and could impinge on First Amendment rights of free association, U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins said. The order gave the president "unfettered discretion" to label groups without giving them a way to challenge the designations, she said in a Nov. 21 ruling that was made public Tuesday. The judge, who two years ago invalidated portions of the U.S. Patriot Act, rejected several sections of Bush's Executive Order 13224 and enjoined the government from blocking the assets of two foreign groups. However, she let stand sections that would penalize those who provide "services" to designated terrorist groups. She said such services would include the humanitarian aid and rights training proposed by the plaintiffs....