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Religion & Law

: Religion Clause

Muslim Charity's Rights Violated In Freezing of Assets

By Howard M. Friedman

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On Tuesday, an Ohio federal district court in a 100-page opinion in KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc. v. Geithner, (ND OH, Aug. 18, 2009) held that the federal Office of Foreign Assets Control violated the due process rights of a Muslim charity when in 2006 it froze its assets without providing notice of the reasons or an opportunity for a hearing. In a long discussion of Fourth Amendment law, the court also concluded that OFAC should have obtained a warrant before freezing the group's assets.

The court also concluded that OFAC acted arbitrarily in blocking access by the charity to use of its own funds to pay its attorneys. The government is investigating whether the charity should be classified as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist" organization because of alleged contribution of funds to Hamas. The court concluded that OFAC's provisional determination to classify the group as an SDGT is not final and thus not subject to review. Yesterday's New York Times reported on the decision. The Council on American-Islamic relations issued a press release calling the decision "a victory for all Americans who value the constitutional rights to due process and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure."

Full post as published by Religion Clause on August 20, 2009 (boomark / email).