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OFAC Grants License to ACLU, CCR To Sue Over Targeted Assassinations

Bump and Update: Today, OFAC granted the license to the ACLU and Center for Constitutional Rights to represent the al Awlaki's. (If you read my post below from this morning, you'll see I predicted that. Why? Aside from the news interview with the OFAC spokesman, as I wrote, the licenses are liberally granted so that lawyers don't challenge the government's authority to make you get one. (According to the OFAC website, the average wait time for approval is something like 117 days, but it can be a lot less and varies by the part of the country you are in. )

The Government doesn't want that lawsuit. But the ACLU still intends to challenge the license requirement, as applied to those providing pro bono legal services.

Today, the ACLU and CCR say:

“The license issued by OFAC today will allow us to pursue our litigation relating to the government’s asserted authority to engage in targeted killings of American civilians without due process. While we appreciate OFAC’s quick response to our lawsuit, we continue to believe that OFAC’s regulations are unconstitutional because they require lawyers who are providing uncompensated legal representation to seek the government’s permission before challenging the constitutionality of the government’s conduct. Notably, OFAC has indicated that the license issued to us today can be revoked at any time. We will pursue our claim that OFAC’s attorney-licensing regulations are unconstitutional and should be invalidated.”

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