The US Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to immediately halt the effects of a New York judge's ruling finding an anti-terrorism law unconstitutional for being too broad.
Government lawyers filed papers on Monday with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. In the papers, the lawyers accuse federal Judge Katherine Forrest of disputing an interpretation of the military's detention authority that had previously been endorsed by all three branches of government.
They say her opinion last week would intrude upon military operations against al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces.
They say her understanding of the issues was 'deeply flawed'. The judge says journalists, scholars and political activists who challenged the law had a legitimate fear that they would be detained for knowing suspected terrorists.