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Judge: Media can attend immigration hearing

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The media can attend the court hearing of a Lebanese man being held in Michigan on immigration charges, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy G. Edmunds granted a preliminary junction to the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, allowing the newspaper to cover the court proceedings of Rabih Haddad, a Lebanese native charged with overstaying his visa.

The Justice Department had argued that a directive issued by Chief Immigration Judge Michael Creppy in the days after September 11 allowed immigration proceedings to be closed in certain circumstances so they would not impair U.S. authorities' ability to wage the war against terrorism.

Last December, a judge cited Creppy's directive in ordering that the press and public be removed from the court room during a bond hearing for Rabih Haddad, a Lebanese native charged with overstaying his visa.

The newspapers, along with Haddad and U.S. Rep. John Conyers D-Michigan, took the case to court, claiming the closure violated the Constitution. They cited the First Amendment, which guarantees the freedom of the press, and the Fifth Amendment, which promises "due process of law."

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Defending Creppy's directive, the Justice Department argued that disclosing the names of "special interest" detainees could lead to public disclosure of their associates, who could potentially be harmed by terrorists.

Releasing the names would also reveal the scope and progress of terrorism investigations, possibly impairing authorities' ability to talk with detainees, federal lawyers argued.

But Edmunds noted that because the detainees' names were released at the outset of the hearings and nothing prohibits the release of names themselves to the media.

The government had shown no compelling interest in closing the hearing "even under the most deferential standards of review," she said.

Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, said Edmunds' ruling was under review and no decision had been reached on an appeal.