Free Speech or Support for Terrorists? Supreme Court Weighs Key Patriot Act Provision
Critics argue that the "material support law" violates rights to free speech.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2010 -- As president of the Humanitarian Law Project, Ralph Fertig has spent years working toward nonviolent dispute resolution. But his work has come to a screeching halt because of a federal law that prohibits him from providing material support -- defined to include expert advice -- to any individual who could potentially be connected to government-designated terrorist groups.
Lisa Schrich, a professor at Eastern Mennonite University, has just returned from Afghanistan, where she, too, felt hamstrung in her efforts to work toward a nonviolent resolution with Afghan citizens. She thinks the law cripples the work of non-government organizations because it is vague on what kinds of communications humanitarian lawyers can have with individuals who may or may not have ties to government-designated terrorist groups.
"Does my listening to people who may belong to the Taliban include material support?" she asks.
The so called "material support law" -- passed before 9/11 but strengthened by the Patriot Act -- makes it illegal to not only provide "goods " or "money" to government designated terrorist groups, but also services less easy to define, such as "expert advice, training and personnel."
Fertig has brought his case to the Supreme Court and his lawyers will argue that the law is unconstitutionally vague and violates his first amendment right to promote nonviolent activities through pure speech.
The justices' decision in the case will have implications for Americans supporting other entities with direct or indirect ties to groups such as al Qaeda, Hamas or Hezbollah.
Fertig worked with Kurds in the United States and abroad, training them to use international law as a means to resolve their claims of oppression in Southeastern Turkey. But after the State Department designated the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) a terrorist group, any "material support" to Kurds who might be affiliated with the PKK is illegal under the material support statute.
