High court test of surveillance law could be ahead
In this Jan. 21, 2012, file photo a television photographer interviews the next door neighbor of terror suspect Jamshid Muhtorov, a refugee from Uzbekistan, in Aurora, Colo., on the day of his arrest at Chicago's O'Hare airport. For the first time the Justice Department says it intends to use information gained from one of the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance programs against an accused terrorist, setting the stage for an expected Supreme Court test. (Ed Andrieski/AP Photo, file)
The Justice Department says for the first time that it intends to use information gained from one of the government’s warrantless surveillance programs against an accused terrorist.
That could set the stage for a Supreme Court test of the Obama administration’s approach to national security.
The high court so far has turned aside challenges to the law on government surveillance. The justices have said people who bring such lawsuits have no evidence they are being targeted.
The terrorism case involves Jamshid Muhtorov.
He was accused in 2012 of providing material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, an Uzbek terrorist organization that, authorities say, was engaging NATO coalition and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
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