CONTACT:
Jen Nessel, CCR, (212) 614-6449; [email protected]
Rachel Myers, ACLU, (212) 549-2689; [email protected]
David Lerner, Riptide Communications, (212) 260-5000
ACLU press line, (212) 549-2666
August 4, 2010
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) today received a license from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) allowing the groups to pursue their legal challenge to the government’s asserted authority to kill American citizens without due process away from conflict zones. The license was granted in response to a lawsuit filed by the groups demanding the license and challenging OFAC’s licensing scheme.
The following can be attributed to CCR and the ACLU:
“The license issued by OFAC today will allow us to pursue our litigation relating to the government’s asserted authority to engage in targeted killings of American civilians without due process. While we appreciate OFAC’s quick response to our lawsuit, we continue to believe that OFAC’s regulations are unconstitutional because they require lawyers who are providing uncompensated legal representation to seek the government’s permission before challenging the constitutionality of the government’s conduct. Notably, OFAC has indicated that the license issued to us today can be revoked at any time. We will pursue our claim that OFAC’s attorney-licensing regulations are unconstitutional and should be invalidated.”
More information about the case is available online at: www.aclu.org/ofac and www.ccrjustice.org/targetedkillings.
The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.