John Ashcroft
Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has asked a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling that he can be held personally responsible for misuse of the material witness statute after the Sept. 11 attacks.
U.S. citizen Abdullah al-Kidd sued Ashcroft and other federal officials after he was arrested and jailed as a material witness in a terrorism case against another man. Al-Kidd, a former student and football player at the University of Idaho, was never called to testify at the trial and said the government was using the statute to arrest people without cause.
Abdullah al-Kidd
In a request filed Monday, Ashcroft asked the full 9th Circuit to review the ruling made by a three-judge panel last month. The panel said that misuse of the material witness law was repugnant to the Constitution; Ashcroft said the decision was inconsistent with long-standing case law. (AP)
