A terror suspect has challenged the constitutionality of the NSA’s surveillance program alleging that the federal government has gone too far on spying, according to a court document filed on Wednesday.
Jamshid Muhtorov, an Uzbek terror suspect from Colorado, in a motion filed in the Denver court with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) requested his prosecutors to disclose the use of surveillance law in his case.
Arguing that surveillance is:
- Exceptionally intrusive and it is conducted by executive officers who enjoy broad authority to decide whom to monitor, when and for how long.
He further said that the statute that authorized the surveillance is unconstitutional because it violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects US residents against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Jamshid, 27, was indicted two years ago for having links with an overseas terrorist group, a charge that he denies and pleaded not guilty.
He was arrested in 2012 in Chicago with about $2,800 cash, two shrink-wrapped iPhones, an iPad and a GPS device when he was on his way to visit his family in Uzbekistan.
The filing is first of its kind, according to the ACLU. Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon declined to comment.
The US government has so far turned away such challenges on the ground that people bringing such lawsuits do not have evidence of being the target. However, in a similar incident elsewhere, a federal judge in Chicago allowed a defendant’s lawyer access to application submitted by the prosecutors.