In a Bivens action alleging that plaintiff was unlawfully arrested pursuant to a Bush Administration policy illegally using the federal material witness statute to detain suspected terrorists, the denial of defendant's motion to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds is affirmed in part, where plaintiff did not alleged adequate facts to render plausible defendant's personal involvement in setting the harsh conditions of his confinement. However, the order is reversed in part where: 1) defendant was acting in an investigative rather than a prosecutorial capacity in detaining plaintiff; and 2) plaintiff's right not to be arrested as a material witness in order to be investigated or preemptively detained was clearly established.
Read Al-Kidd v. Ashcroft, No. 06-36059
Appellate Information
Argued April 8, 2008
Submitted May 18, 2009
Filed September 4, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Smith
Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge Bea
Counsel
For Appellant:
Robert M. Loeb, Department of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, DC
Matthew M. Collette, Department of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, DC
For Appellee:
Lee Gelernt, Immigrants' Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union, New York, NY