Monday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the federal law against material support for terrorist groups was a blow to the Carter Center in Atlanta, which had urged the justices to affirm a lower court’s decision striking down parts of the law.

In an amicus brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Carter Center and other international aid and peace advocates argued that the law’s prohibitions on “service,” “training,” “personnel,” and “expert advice or assistance” are unconstitutionally vague as applied to the kind of peaceful, non-violent speech and advocacy in which both plaintiffs and amici engage. Amici, like plaintiffs, are left hopelessly guessing – at the risk of grave penalty – whether their advocacy for peace or human rights, their engagement in or facilitation of peace-making dialogue, or the expressive components of their humanitarian aid work crosses the line from constitutionally protected to criminally proscribed, the brief said.

In another part of the brief, the Carter Center argued, “effective conflict resolution often requires negotiating and mediating with armed actors, and providing each side to a conflict with strategic advice or expertise.”

Our colleagues at the National Law Journal reported, “Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. author of the decision, gave strong deference to “the considered judgment” of Congress and the executive branch that even benign support for groups with terrorist aims helps their violent activities.

For example, Roberts said, planned training for the Kurdistan group on techniques of peaceful dispute resolution could aid its terrorist goals by “buying time to recover short-term setbacks, lulling opponents into complacency, and ultimately preparing for renewed attacks.” He added, “A foreign terrorist organization introduced to the structures of the international legal system might use the information to threaten, manipulate, and disrupt.”

In a statement issued by the ACLU on Monday, former President Jimmy Carter said: “We are disappointed that the Supreme Court has upheld a law that inhibits the work of human rights and conflict resolution groups. The ‘material support law’ – which is aimed at putting an end to terrorism – actually threatens our work and the work of many other peacemaking organizations that must interact directly with groups that have engaged in violence. The vague language of the law leaves us wondering if we will be prosecuted for our work to promote peace and freedom.”

Read the Carter Center’s full brief »

Contributor: Jonathan Ringel in News Roundup, U.S. Supreme Court | subscribe to rss |   share