Local Boy makes Good

Wins us back our Rights!

Two months after the 2004 Madrid train bombings, local attorney Brandon Mayfield (a Moslem convert) was arrested by the FBI without charge. Held for over two weeks with limited access to legal counsel, he was at first held at in the county jail under a false name. Mayfield was later transferred to an unidentified location.

During his illegal detention, the government searched the family home, took DNA samples and removed several items. After Spanish authorities refuted the "evidence" used by the American government, Mayfield was released with an apology. Not satisfied, Mayfield also sued to get his (and our) rights back. Today, we won.

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) - A federal judge ruled Wednesday that two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended by the Patriot Act, "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment."