WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has upheld a federal law that bars “material support” to foreign terrorist organizations, rejecting a free speech challenge from humanitarian aid groups.
The court ruled 6-3 Monday that the government may prohibit all forms of aid to designated terrorist groups, even if the support consists of training and advice about entirely peaceful and legal activities.
Material support intended even for benign purposes can help a terrorist group in other ways, Chief Justice John Roberts said in his majority opinion.
“Such support frees up other resources within the organization that may be put to violent ends,” Roberts said.
Justice Stephen Breyer said in his dissent that he rejects the majority’s conclusion “that the Constitution permits the government to prosecute the plaintiffs criminally” for providing instruction and advice about the terror groups’ lawful political objectives.
The aid groups involved had trained a Kurdish group in Turkey on how to bring human-rights complaints to the United Nations and assisted them in peace negotiations, but suspended the activities when the U.S. designated the Kurdish organization a terrorist group in 1997.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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