The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging a law that critics say treats human rights advocates as criminal terrorists, and threatens them with 15 years in prison for advocating nonviolent means to resolve disputes.
The case is known as Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, and is the first case to challenge a portion of the PATRIOT Act before the Supreme Court. Originally brought in 1998, the suit challenges the constitutionality of the law that makes it a crime to provide "material support" to groups the administration has designated as "terrorist."
The case challenges those aspects of the "material support" statute that criminalize pure speech – specifically the prohibitions on providing "training," "personnel," "expert advice or assistance," and "service."