MLFA’s Civil Litigation attorneys filed a petition with the Supreme Court this week, asking the highest court in the country to consider one of its cases challenging the lack of due process for those who believe they are on the Terrorist Watchlist.
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Since 2019 MLFA’s Civil Litigation attorneys have worked diligently on behalf of the Jibrils, a family of seven who endured extreme searches, delays and separation traveling to and from Jordan. The case has been dismissed by the federal trial court twice, appealed to the D.C. Circuit twice, and remanded back to the trial court once after the D.C. Circuit ruled the government’s approach to be a “heartless argument” that the Jibrils did not need to know whether they were still on a Watchlist in order to travel again– but did still need to be on the Watchlist in order to bring their case in court.
In the last round the government tried a new approach: it provided a declaration that only the courts could see, claiming that the declaration established that Jibrils had not had standing to bring their case from the very beginning – hypothetically, because the government took them off the Watchlist after they filed complaints, but before they filed their lawsuit.
But we don’t know that. The Jibrils don’t know that.
Because the government won’t admit to individuals whether they are on the Watchlist. Instead, the government and the lower courts want individuals to have to guess whether they have good legal standing to bring a case. They want individuals to make this guess, even though the individuals have no way to tell and no way to find out the information that only the government holds. We don’t think that’s right.
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We believe individuals have greater rights than that. And we are fighting all the way to the Supreme Court. We will continue to fight on behalf of the Jibrils and the rest of our clients with reason to believe they are on the Watchlist, but can’t get confirmation or the opportunity to challenge that placement.
We will continue fighting to force the government to inject the due process that the Constitution guarantees into the Watchlist process and give them back their rights.
