Supreme Court skeptical of FBI's claim in monitoring of Muslims in Orange County, California
WASHINGTON — For the second time in two months, the U.S. government on Monday urged the Supreme Court to invoke “state secrets” to shield it from allegations of wrongdoing — in this instance, the secret recording of Muslims who gathered for prayer at a mosque in Orange County, California.
A Justice Department attorney said the court should dismiss a 10-year-old lawsuit that alleges Muslims were targeted for secret surveillance because of their faith, a violation of the religious freedom protected by the Constitution.
The claim should not be decided before a judge or jury, said Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler, because national security would be at risk if the FBI had to explain why it began spying on an Islamic center in Irvine.
But his argument ran into skepticism from across the court’s usual ideological divide, from Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett on the right to Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen G. Breyer on the left.
Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article255657346.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
