Los Angeles
A federal judge in California this week struck down part of the USA Patriot Act, marking the first time a section of the law had been ruled unconstitutional. District Judge Audrey Collins said that a rule against giving expert advice or assistance to terrorist groups was so vague that it could violate the First Amendment right to free speech. The lawsuit was filed by human-rights activists trying to provide aid to Kurdish refugees in Turkey and to the Tamil people of Sri Lanka; they said they feared being prosecuted as terrorists. A Justice Department spokesman said the controversial law, which gives the government expanded snooping powers, would remain “an essential tool in the war on terror.”
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