Reply #12: Update: Feds say Patriot Act has no place in homeless lawsuit [View All]

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--patriotact-homele0629jun29,0,4680804.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press Writer

June 29, 2005, 2:47 PM EDT

NEWARK, N.J. -- The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday criticized a New Jersey municipality for invoking the USA Patriot Act to defend itself from a lawsuit over kicking homeless people out of its train station.

In an answer to a federal lawsuit brought by a homeless man who objected to being told to leave the Summit train station, the city said its conduct is protected by the Patriot Act and the lawsuit should be barred. The city cited a section of the law regarding "attacks and other violence against mass transportation systems."

But Kevin Madden, a Justice Department spokesman, said Summit has no business invoking the anti-terrorism law to justify its treatment of the homeless.

"That represents a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Patriot Act is," he said Wednesday. "The Patriot Act is a law enforcement tool to identify and track terrorists and stop them from further attacks on America. To apply it to this case is, shall we say, an overreaching application of the law."