A federal judge dismissed (pdf) a case that challenged the Obama administration's targeted killing of three Americans in Yemen.
Nasser Al-Awlaki sued administration officials personally for the killing of his son and al-Qaida cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki, his grandson and another American. His lawyers argued the administration violated the targets' constitutional right to due process and protection from unlawful search and seizures.
Al-Awlaki was killed by a drone strike in 2011. He had never been publicly charged with a crime, but U.S. officials said he was tied to plots against the U.S. and played a key role in al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
Samir Khan, who once was the editor of the jihadi magazine Inspire, died alongside al-Awlaki. Abdulrahman, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, was killed a few weeks later in a separate strike.
Judge Rosemary M. Collyer said the suit "raises fundamental issues regarding constitutional principles, and it is not easy to answer."
However, based on precedent, she granted the Obama administration's motion to dismiss the case.
Here's how NPR's Carrie Johnson explained the arguments when the case was heard last summer:
"Government lawyers argue that allowing the case to proceed against senior military officials and the former leaders of the Pentagon and the CIA would interfere with executive branch prerogatives and subject the defendants to second-guessing of sensitive military and intelligence decision-making."Brian Hauck, arguing for the Justice Department, pointed out that decisions on targeting "are made at the highest levels of the executive branch, with robust consultation with Congress.""But the judge didn't sound convinced. "No, no, no, no," Collyer said. "The executive is not an effective check on the executive when it comes to individual constitutional rights.""Advocates for the Awlaki family say the U.S. government violated the victims' constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution — which prohibit unlawful search and seizure and deprivation of life and liberty without due process of law."'The defendant's arguments aren't just wrong,' said Pardiss Kebriaei of the Center for Constitutional Rights. 'We think they're dangerous.'"
Note: NPR follows AP style on the spelling of al-Awlaki's name. Other news organizations spell it differently.
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