Justice Department: Public has no right of access to immigration hearings
By The Associated Press
05.09.02
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DETROIT — The U.S. Justice Department told an appeals court yesterday that there is no public right of access to the deportation hearings against Islamic charity founder Rabih Haddad.
Administrative proceedings within the executive branch of government may appear similar to court hearings, but they are something else entirely under the Constitution, the department said.
The government is appealing a Detroit federal judge's decision opening up hearings on Haddad, who is accused of overstaying his visa. It filed the brief with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
The Constitution establishes a right of public access to court hearings but not to executive branch proceedings, the brief said.
"Neither the Supreme Court nor any court of appeals has extended those holdings to find a First Amendment right of access to the wholly different context of administrative immigration proceedings," wrote Justice Department attorney Sharon Swingle.
The American Civil Liberties Union, several newspapers and U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, sued to open the hearings before an Immigration and Naturalization Service judge. The INS is part of the Justice Department.
The federal brief was in response to earlier briefs filed by the other side. No date has yet been set for the next step in the case — oral arguments before the court in Cincinnati.
The Justice Department is "playing fast and loose" with legal precedents in the issue, said Detroit Free Press lawyer Brian Wassom. He said the brief contains the same arguments that the courts have earlier rejected.
Federal agents arrested Haddad at his Ann Arbor home on Dec. 14. The same day, FBI agents raided the suburban Chicago offices of the Global Relief Foundation and seized its assets on suspicion the group was involved with terrorism.
No criminal charges have been filed against Haddad or the foundation, which has denied any links to terrorism.
Update
Government urges secrecy for man's deportation hearings
Opening proceedings against Rabih Haddad to press, public would assist terrorists, Justice Department lawyer tells federal appeals panel.
08.07.02
Previous
Appeals court allows release of immigration-hearing transcripts
Meanwhile, INS orders state, local governments not to release names of those detained since Sept. 11.
04.19.02
Related
Civil rights groups, newspapers win round in effort to open deportation hearings
New Jersey federal judge grants preliminary injunction, saying such hearings may only be closed on case-by-case basis by judge conducting the proceeding.
05.30.02
