Judge Orders Detainee Names Release
Fri Aug 2, 4:44 PM ET
By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge ruled Friday the United States must reveal the names of people detained in the investigation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a major victory for civil rights groups.
The order by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler gives the government 15 days to comply and allows only two exceptions: if the detainee is a material witness to a terror investigation and if the person being held does not want to be identified.
Kessler rejected the Justice Department's argument that releasing names would allow terrorist groups to gauge the progress of the government's investigation.
In her opinion, Kessler wrote that in the government affidavits "nowhere declare that some or all of the detainees have connections to terrorism. Nor do they provide facts that would permit the court to infer links to terrorism. For example, the government has provided no information on the standard used to arrest and detain individuals initially."
The Justice Department detained almost 1,200 people following the attacks and most already have been deported.
