Seven plaintiffs, backed by multiple civil liberties and human rights groups, filed suit against President Obama, Leon Panetta, and 6 members of Congress over the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last March. The lawsuit, spearheaded by plaintiffs Chris Hedges and Tangerine Bolen, is one of the only things standing in between innocent citizens everywhere and the threat of indefinite detention by the US military under Section 1021 of the NDAA. Journalists, lawyers and activists around the world have expressed profound concern and criticism over a provision that effectively suspends due process of the law and threatens to destroy First Amendment rights.
We WON round one of our lawsuit in May, after Obama-appointed Judge Katherine Forrest ruled entirely in our favor and granted a temporary restraining order against this provision. She did so after the US government refused to provide assurances (when asked 5 times) that plaintiffs and others would not be subjected to indefinite detention for exercising First Amendment rights.
We expect the government to appeal - which means this case could go all the way to the Supreme Court - a court that has demonstrated its willingness to side against the people and fundamental liberties time and again. The US government appears to want to keep the right to a "gray area" in the law - to be interpreted by the US president - leaving them the right and ability to arrest you for lawful activities.
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