Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Supreme Court Reverses Decision Allowing California Muslims' FBI Bias Suit
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
March 4, 2022

Share

 

The Supreme Court sided unanimously with the Biden administration Friday and reversed a lower court decision that had allowed a lawsuit by Muslim men claiming religious bias by the FBI to go forward. But the justices’ decision did not end the case.

The government had claimed allowing the lawsuit to go forward could reveal national security secrets. The high court, however, didn’t decide whether that was the case or whether the case should have been dismissed.

Instead, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that a federal appeals court had made an error when looking at the case. He said that the appeals court was wrong to conclude that the longstanding “state secrets” privilege, which protects the government from having to reveal certain information, was altered by Congress’ passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. As a result, the court sent the case back for further review.

Government Claimed ‘State Secrets’ at Risk

The case the high court was considering involves a group of three men from Southern California. They filed a class action lawsuit claiming the FBI spied on them and hundreds of others in a surveillance operation that began several years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The men, represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and others, claimed religious discrimination and violations of other rights, saying they were spied on solely because of their faith.

A lower court ended the case after the government said allowing the case to go forward could reveal “state secrets” — whom the government was investigating and why. But an appeals court reversed that decision in 2019, saying the lower court first should have privately examined the evidence the government said was state secrets.

Before the Biden administration took over, the Trump administration had also urged the court to rule against the group.

The case the court decided was one of two state secrets cases that the court heard arguments on in the fall. In the other case, which the court decided Thursday, the justices also sided with the government. There, the justices ruled to dismiss a case involving a Guantanamo Bay detainee captured after the Sept. 11 attacks and tortured by the CIA abroad who had sought information about his treatment.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Sends Pickup Into Tree, Dark Tint Cited as Cause

DON'T MISS

November Has Scattered Cool Temps, Rain Showers for Fresno

DON'T MISS

Beyoncé Makes Grammy History With ‘Cowboy Carter,’ Leading 2025 Nominations

DON'T MISS

Macklin Celebrini, NHL’s Youngest Player, Scores on Marc-Andre Fleury, League’s Oldest

DON'T MISS

Ramsey, Beckham Return to SoFi Stadium When the Struggling Dolphins Visit the Streaking Rams

DON'T MISS

San Francisco’s First Black Female Mayor Concedes to Levi Strauss Heir

DON'T MISS

FBI Thwarts Iranian Murder-for-Hire Plan Targeting Donald Trump

DON'T MISS

Israeli Soccer Fans Were Attacked in Amsterdam. The Violence Was Condemned as Antisemitic

DON'T MISS

Longtime Dodgers Ace Clayton Kershaw Is on the Mend After 2 Surgeries

DON'T MISS

USDA Bans School Lunch Fees for Low-Income Families

UP NEXT

Beyoncé Makes Grammy History With ‘Cowboy Carter,’ Leading 2025 Nominations

UP NEXT

Macklin Celebrini, NHL’s Youngest Player, Scores on Marc-Andre Fleury, League’s Oldest

UP NEXT

Ramsey, Beckham Return to SoFi Stadium When the Struggling Dolphins Visit the Streaking Rams

UP NEXT

San Francisco’s First Black Female Mayor Concedes to Levi Strauss Heir

UP NEXT

FBI Thwarts Iranian Murder-for-Hire Plan Targeting Donald Trump

UP NEXT

Israeli Soccer Fans Were Attacked in Amsterdam. The Violence Was Condemned as Antisemitic

UP NEXT

Longtime Dodgers Ace Clayton Kershaw Is on the Mend After 2 Surgeries

UP NEXT

USDA Bans School Lunch Fees for Low-Income Families

UP NEXT

Christian McCaffrey Expected to Make Season Debut for 49ers This Week

UP NEXT

Southern California Wildfire Destroys 132 Structures as Officials Look for Fierce Winds to Subside

Macklin Celebrini, NHL’s Youngest Player, Scores on Marc-Andre Fleury, League’s Oldest

1 hour ago

Ramsey, Beckham Return to SoFi Stadium When the Struggling Dolphins Visit the Streaking Rams

2 hours ago

San Francisco’s First Black Female Mayor Concedes to Levi Strauss Heir

2 hours ago

FBI Thwarts Iranian Murder-for-Hire Plan Targeting Donald Trump

2 hours ago

Israeli Soccer Fans Were Attacked in Amsterdam. The Violence Was Condemned as Antisemitic

2 hours ago

Longtime Dodgers Ace Clayton Kershaw Is on the Mend After 2 Surgeries

2 hours ago

USDA Bans School Lunch Fees for Low-Income Families

3 hours ago

Christian McCaffrey Expected to Make Season Debut for 49ers This Week

3 hours ago

Southern California Wildfire Destroys 132 Structures as Officials Look for Fierce Winds to Subside

3 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Cruises Toward the Close of Its Best Week in a Year

3 hours ago

Fresno Crash Sends Pickup Into Tree, Dark Tint Cited as Cause

A serious crash unfolded on State Route 180 near the 99 interchange after a driver with extremely dark-tinted windows failed to see a pickup...

21 mins ago

21 mins ago

Fresno Crash Sends Pickup Into Tree, Dark Tint Cited as Cause

36 mins ago

November Has Scattered Cool Temps, Rain Showers for Fresno

1 hour ago

Beyoncé Makes Grammy History With ‘Cowboy Carter,’ Leading 2025 Nominations

1 hour ago

Macklin Celebrini, NHL’s Youngest Player, Scores on Marc-Andre Fleury, League’s Oldest

Rams
2 hours ago

Ramsey, Beckham Return to SoFi Stadium When the Struggling Dolphins Visit the Streaking Rams

2 hours ago

San Francisco’s First Black Female Mayor Concedes to Levi Strauss Heir

2 hours ago

FBI Thwarts Iranian Murder-for-Hire Plan Targeting Donald Trump

2 hours ago

Israeli Soccer Fans Were Attacked in Amsterdam. The Violence Was Condemned as Antisemitic

Search

Send this to a friend