Bush Executive Order Found Unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled that portions of Executive Order 13224 was too vague and is unconstitutional. The order was meant to combat financing of terrorist organizations. The problem is it was "unconstitutionally vague as it gave the president 'unfettered discretion' to effectively 'blacklist' terror groups without applying objective criteria in making the designation. Collins said that portions of the order violated the petitioners' First Amendment rights in that it "imposed penalties for mere association" with a designated group, and because several operative terms in the order are so vague as to give the president nearly unlimited power to declare organizations illegal. "