A former US attorney general can be sued by an American citizen held as a witness suspected of having information in a terrorism case, a court has ruled.
Abdullah al-Kidd accuses John Ashcroft, attorney general from 2001 to 2005, of ********* his constitutional rights in 2003, when he was held for 16 days.
The court said detention of witnesses without charge after the 9/11 attacks was "repugnant to the constitution".
The US Department of Justice said it was reviewing the court's order.
A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals also said the government's policy was "a painful reminder of some of the most ignominious chapters of our national history."
