Mistaken terrorism victim to be paid $2M by U.S.

Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein at 12:00 PM on November 30, 2006.

Man jailed for 2 weeks after being mistaken for Spanish terrorist...

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The Nitpicker spots some good news on the civil liberties front: A court awarded $2 million to an Oregon man who was wrongfully arrested and detained for two weeks on suspicion of terrorism because of a fingerprinting fiasco.

Brandon Mayfield was locked up for two weeks in 2004 after the authorities mistakenly linked him to a Spanish terrorist through botched fingerprint identification. Mr. Mayfield, an attorney, says he plans to continue is legal challenges to the constitutionality of the PATRIOT Act.

[Nitpicker]

Tagged as: lawsuit, fingerprint, arrest, patriot act, fbi, brandon mayfield

Lindsay Beyerstein a New York writer blogging at Majikthise.

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Fingerprints... [Report this comment] Posted by: oregoncharles on Nov 30, 2006 11:27 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] This was a local story where I live. The FBI's abuse was so blatant that the city of Portland, with a mayor who is a former police chief, cut its co-operation with the FBI. I'm glad Mayfield at least got some money out of them; the national publicity is worth even more, as a corrective. Something I haven't heard much about: Doesn't this invalidate every FBI fingerprint ID, at least in that time frame? Seems like every defense attorney in the country would jump on it. Alexander Cockburn actually pointed this out, too: fingerprints just are not the absolute ID we are told. Mistakes happen, as in anything. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Intelligence lacking [Report this comment] Posted by: YogiBear on Nov 30, 2006 11:23 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I remember this story. The FBI ignored warnings from Spanish authorities that the fingerprints were not Mayfield's. So much for listening to the people who actually knew who the terrorist was. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Transcript [Report this comment] Posted by: YogiBear on Nov 30, 2006 11:29 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] The Democracy Now interview with Mayfield: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/30/1452233 [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Don't just jump on the FBI [Report this comment] Posted by: zipper696 on Dec 1, 2006 3:40 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I'm sure that they were being "Cheneyed" - told that "let's confirm this ID so we can prove that we are winning the Fart on Terrer" . The Feds know the minimum requirement of matching points on any print comparison, clearly this failed but their political masters needed a home grown "Terrerist" to show reason for the Patriot Act. "See how the Act saved us from this crazed suicide bomber?" [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Don't just jump on the FBI Posted by: sprachenlehrer

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» RE: Don't just jump on the FBI Posted by: sprachenlehrer