Judge in D.C. tosses suit challenging placement of Yemeni cleric on terrorist list

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A federal judge tossed out a lawsuit Tuesday that challenged the Obama administration's placement of a Yemeni cleric, who is also a U.S. citizen, on a kill-or-capture list of terrorists linked to al-Qaeda.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates of the District ruled that the Yemeni father of the cleric, al-Qaeda propagandist and plotter Anwar al-Aulaqi, lacked the standing to bring the challenge in federal court. Bates's 83-page opinion handed a victory to the White House and a setback to civil liberties groups.

Bates also said the case raised "stark" and "perplexing" questions about the scope of presidential wartime powers and the role of the courts before concluding that he lacked the jurisdiction to review the targeting of a U.S. citizen abroad for death.

"This Court recognizes the somewhat unsettling nature of its conclusion - that there are circumstances in which the Executive's unilateral decision to kill a U.S. citizen overseas is . . . judicially unreviewable. But this case squarely presents such a circumstance," Bates wrote.

(More here.)