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Southern District of New York/Direct
Jonathan Hafetz & Lawrence Lustberg/Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, along with the New York Civil Liberties Union, filed suit in 2005 on behalf of the Rev. Frederick Boyle, a Methodist minister from Randolph, N.J., who was fined $6,700 for allegedly traveling to Iraq before the start of the war in March 2003. The ACLU is challenging the authority of the federal Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) to impose the fine, as well as the legality of the process by which the agency determines such penalties. In particular, the suit says, the Iraq Sanctions Act prevents a defendant from learning the basis for the government's accusations, from confronting witnesses or having a hearing before a neutral decision maker. The ACLU-NJ also argues that the government violated Boyle's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The district court decision is pending. 
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