Southern District Judge Katherine Forrest was asked by journalists and activists at a March 29 hearing to block enforcement of a law allowing for the indefinite detention and trial by military commission of any person who “substantially supported” al-Qaida, the Taliban or “associated forces” in armed conflict. Fearing the vaguely defined statute would sweep up reporters and advocates who contact the designated terror groups, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that Judge Forrest should grant a pre-enforcement preliminary injunction against the National Defense Authorization Act §1021.
In Hedges v. Obama, 12-CV-331, journalist Christopher Hedges and activist Alexa O’Brien testified about the effect the law has on their activities. Mr. Hedges said he has “greater reluctance…to associate with any group that embraces acts that could be construed as terrorist.”
