Sami Omar Al-Hussayen

In an associated case, Ashcroft v. al-Kidd (2011), Abdullah al-Kidd, an American citizen and convert to Islam, was arrested in 2003 and held for 16 days in maximum security prisons. He was under supervised release (house arrest) for 13 months. The federal government was holding him as a material witness against Al-Hussayen. After finally being released, al-Kidd sued Attorney General John Ashcroft personally, in a case in which he was represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). They said that they knew of 70 other Muslim men who had been similarly detained in the early years following the 9/11 attacks. In 2009 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that Ashcroft could be sued and held personally responsible for the wrongful detention of al-Kidd.

In June 2011, the US Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision, agreeing unanimously that Ashcroft cannot be personally sued, as he had immunity as a government official, unless he could be proven to have violated law. In addition, a majority ruled that al-Kidd could not have won his case on the merits. Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the American University School of Law, considered it a "narrow ruling" and said the court held that "Ashcroft did not, in fact, violate his [al-Kidd's] Fourth Amendment rights."

Al-Hussayen accepted a deal, agreeing to deportation if the prosecutor dropped plans to retry him on the outstanding immigration charges. His wife and three sons returned to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia before him, and he was deported in July 2004. He and his wife both work in Riyadh.

In January 2004, US officials charged him with two federal counts of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists by using his skills in computers. In March 2004, he was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US, through donation links on Web sites which he allegedly maintained. His formal indictments can be seen here.

His trial began in April 2004 and he was defended by the attorney David Nevin. The trial of Al-Hussayen lasted seven weeks. The defense called only one witness. He was acquitted of all three terrorism charges, which was described as a "stinging defeat" for the government.

After his acquittal at the criminal trial, Al-Hussayen was still held in custody by immigration authorities. A few weeks later, he agreed not to appeal his deportation order if the prosecution agreed not to retry him for the remaining immigration charges. He was deported to Saudi Arabia in July 2004. His wife and three sons returned there voluntarily to meet him, rather than await deportation orders.

In January 2004, the US District Court in Los Angeles, California had ruled in another case that this provision is unconstitutional, as it violates First and Fifth amendment rights. U.S. District Court Judge Audrey B. Collins ruled that the USA Patriot Act's language, barring "expert advice or assistance" to groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations, was "overly broad and vague."

At an immigration hearing in 2003, the federal judge ordered Al-Hussayen deported. He was held in the United States to face terrorism and immigration charges, and was tried in 2004. He was acquitted that year of the three federal terrorism charges, which was considered a "stinging defeat" for the government; he was also acquitted of three of eight immigration charges. The jury was deadlocked on the other immigration charges, and the judge called a mistrial.

Sami Omar Al-Hussayen was arrested in late February 2003 in the town of Moscow, Idaho, where he lived since 1999 as a Ph.D. graduate student in computer science at the University of Idaho. His wife and three sons were with him.

In March 2003, the court ruled that Al-Hussayen should be set free without bail and remain under house arrest until his trial. But, federal immigration officials detained him for their case, and he was transferred to their custody.

At an immigration hearing in mid-2003, federal judge Anna Ho ordered Al-Hussayen to be deported to Saudi Arabia, his country of origin. He was held in federal custody pending a trial on terrorism and immigration charges, and he continued to work on his doctoral program while in jail.

The USA Patriot Act of 2001 authorizes the federal government to prosecute people if they "provide expert advice or assistance" to terrorist groups. This question of guidance and association has troubled critics. Among them are two of Idaho's US Congressmen, who had already registered their opposition to provisions of the act: the Republicans Larry E. Craig, the senior US Senator, and Representative C. L. Otter, "have sponsored bills to amend the act, which they have called a threat to civil liberties."

Sami Omar Al-Hussayen (born 1973, Saudi Arabia), also known as Sami Al-Hussayen, is a teacher at a technical college in Riyadh. As a Ph.D. graduate student in computer science at the University of Idaho in the United States, he was arrested and charged in 2003 by the United States with running websites as a webmaster that were linked to organizations that support terrorism. Al-Hussayen is one of the few people at the time to have been charged under a provision that has been described as "overly broad and vague." He was also charged with immigration violations.