Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2002 16:50:59 -0500
From: leonf@perspicuity.net ("Leon")
Subject: FEAR: Judge Says Gov't. Can Freeze Assets
To: fear-list@mapinc.org, fear-talk@mapinc.org
Reply-To: fear-talk@mapinc.org

Sorry, I do not have a link to this article as it came from a $$ service.

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Judge Says Gov't. Can Freeze Assets
Date: 8/9/02; Publication: AP Online; Author: CHRISTOPHER NEWTON,=
 ssociated Press Writer 


WASHINGTON (AP) _ An organization that claims to be the largest U.S.- based=
 Muslim-based charity can legally challenge the government's search of its=
 property but not the freezing of its assets, a federal judge ruled=
 Thursday. 

The Holy Land Foundation, accused of funding the militant Islamic group=
 Hamas, sued the Bush administration after the group's offices in=
 Richardson, Texas, were raided and its assets were frozen n December.=
 Hamas is on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist=
 organizations. 

Holy Land alleged the government violated its rights to a trial by jury=
 before punishment, freedom of religion and speech, and protection against=
 unwarranted search and seizures.

U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler upheld several government motions=
 and threw out the group's complaints on all counts except those related to=
 the search of the group's property, which, she said, could be a "classic=
 Fourth Amendment violation." 

The government acknowledged conducting the search without a warrant. 

Her ruling ensures a trial over the matter. 

Kessler struck down Holy Land's argument that the freezing of its assets=
 constituted an illegal seizure. "Case law is clear that a blocking of this=
 nature does not constitute a seizure," the judge wrote. 

Justice Department officials did not immediately comment on the ruling.=
 Messages left late Thursday for attorneys representing the Holy Land=
 Foundation were not immediately returned. 

Holy Land was shut down by the Treasury Department in December as part of a=
 terrorism investigation. 

An FBI memo, used by the government to freeze Holy Land's assets, claims a=
 leader of the charity attended a mid-1990s event where $207, 000 was=
 raised for Hamas. 

Officials say their conservative estimate is that Hamas has raised several=
 million dollars in the United States over the past decade. 

Holy Land leaders have denied supporting terrorism, arguing in court=
 documents that they raise funds for humanitarian and disaster relief. 

But Kessler said the government's arguments against Holy Land are strong=
 and likely to prevail in court. 

In the opinion, Kessler also struck down Holy Land's request that the=
 government be kept from freezing the group's assets until a trial. 

The narrowing of the lawsuit probably will make it more difficult for Holy=
 Land to win its case, experts said. 

"The group tried to cast a wide net with a broad lawsuit and the judge=
 rled there was only one fish in it," said Kenneth Williams, a=
 constitutional law attorney in Dallas. "Now, religion, freedom of speech=
 and right to jury won't be able to be brought up in court. It puts much=
 more burden on the Holy Land Foundation." 

CHRISTOPHER NEWTON, Associated Press Writer, Judge Says Gov't. Can Freeze=
 Assets. , AP Online, 08-09-2002.

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Leon Felkins, FEAR Executive Director
Send mail to: leon@fear.org

"The sacred rights of property are to be guarded at every point. I call=
 them sacred, because, if they are unprotected, all other rights become=
 worthless or visionary. What is personal liberty, if it does not draw=
 after it the right to enjoy the fruits of our own industry? What is=
 political liberty, if it imparts only perpetual poverty to us and all our=
 posterity? What is the privilege of a vote, if the majority of the hour=
 may sweep away the earnings of our whole lives, to gratify the rapacity of=
 the indolent, the cunning, or the profligate, who are borne into power=
 upon the tide of a temporary popularity?" -- Judge Joseph Story, 1852