DOJ Told to Release Names of Detainees
Federal judge gives Justice Department 15 days to identify people who have been held in connection with Sept. 11 attacks

August 2, 2002

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Friday ordered the Department of Justice to release the names of all people who have been detained in the investigation into the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler gave the Justice Department 15 days to release the names and allowed for only two exceptions:

-- On a case-by-case basis, the judge said she will consider allowing the government to keep a detainee's name secret if the detainee is a material witness to a terror investigation.

-- The judge will allow the government to withhold the detainee's name if the detainee requests it.

The Justice Department had no immediate reaction to the ruling, but it was expected to appeal to the District Court of Appeals in Washington.

The government detained almost 1,200 people following the attacks, and most already have been deported.

The Justice Department disclosed in June that at least 147 people still were being held, including 74 on charges involving immigration infractions. Prosecutors have not said how many are being held as material witnesses.

The case was a victory for the Center for National Security Studies, the American Civil Liberties Union, People for the American Way Foundation, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and 20 other public interest organizations.

The groups argued that, by keeping the names secret, the government expanded its own power without any congressional support and in conflict with statutes on public information.

They asked for disclosure of the names of the detainees, as well as their dates of arrest and detention and, in some cases, release. The plaintiffs also asked the court to release the names of the detainees' lawyers.

"This secrecy, though now linked to Sept. 11, would allow the secret jailing of any immigration violator for any reason, as long as they are linked to a pending investigation," argued plaintiffs' attorney Kate Martin. "The government acknowledges that many of those being held in secret are no longer suspected of being involved in a terrorist group. That is too much power."

Justice Department attorney Ann Weisman argued primarily that releasing the names would reveal too much to terror groups like Usama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network.

"Terrorists may be able to map the progress of the investigation by communicating with those detained and charting who has been detained and where," Weisman said. "Terrorist groups could decide to switch to an alternate cell if one cell is proven to be compromised by a detainment"

But Kessler ruled that the government's rationale for keeping the names secret was illogical and insufficient, saying that the government affidavits "nowhere declare that some or all of the detainees have connections to terrorism.

"Nor do they provide facts that would permit the court to infer links to terrorism. For example, the government has provided no information on the standard used to arrest and detain individuals initially."

She granted the first motion, and required the DOJ to release the names of all detainees within 15 days. Kessler denied the move to release the arrest dates, saying there is no First Amendment-generated reason to release such data.

She also ordered that the detainees' lawyers' names be made public, saying the attorneys,  unlike suspects, have no expectation of privacy and are well equipped to "handle their own affairs."

Kessler did uphold the government's right to keep secret the locations of where detainees are being held. She said there is a significant risk that the prisons could be targeted by those angered by the detentions.

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