On Thursday, February 14, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) will argue its case challenging the post-9/11 detention of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian men before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Filed in April 2002, Turkmen v. Ashcroft charges that on the pretext of minor immigration violations and no evidence of any links to terrorism, the Immigration and Naturalization Service unlawfully held the plaintiffs in detention under abusive conditions for the months that the FBI took to clear them of links to terrorism, long after their immigration cases were completed.

In Thursday’s cross-appeal, CCR attorneys will be arguing that the detention itself was illegal and violated the men’s constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment, the due process clause and the equal protection clause. The government will be arguing that the high-level officials named as defendants should not be held accountable. The part of the case against low-level officers for abuse and conditions of confinement is proceeding independent of the outcome of this appeal. [Link]