Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has lost his bid to be protected from a lawsuit filed by a student who claims he was wrongly imprisoned in a terrorism case. A lawsuit filed by Abdullah al-Kidd claims Ashcroft is personally liable for violating his rights. Al-Kidd spent two weeks in jail as a material witness against a fellow student, who was acquitted by a federal jury after an eight week trial. Al-Kidd was eventually deported to Saudi Arabia. A federal district judge has rejected Ashcroft’s argument that he was entitled to immunity as the Attorney General.
