Court Says Detainee's Lawsuit Can't Proceed.

[elleng]

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that former attorney general John D. Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III may not be sued by a Pakistani man who was seized in the United States after the 2001 terrorist attacks and who alleged harsh treatment because of his religion and ethnicity. . .

Kennedy, joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., said that Iqbal's "account of his prison ordeal could, if proved, demonstrate unconstitutional misconduct by some government actors."

Iqbal's attorney, Alexander Reinert, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, said he would try to amend the allegations against Ashcroft and Mueller to meet the court's guidelines. . .


In the maternity case, Souter wrote for the majority in overturning a lower court ruling that said the decades-old maternity leaves should count in determining pensions.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/18/AR2009051800966_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009051801430