Judge orders discovery in case brought over U.S. denial of visa to South African scholar: At issue is whether meeting by videoconference preserves First Amendment rights of organization seeking his attendance

The National Law Journal reports on a very interesting immigration and First Amendment case percolating in the federal district court in Boston.   A judge there ordered discovery into whether allowing videoconferencing communication preserves the First Amendment rights of an organization suing the U.S. government for denying South African scholar Adam Habib a visa to attend a conference.

The government denied Habib a visa on the grounds that he engaged in terrorist activity. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), on behalf of the American Sociological Association, contends that the United States is barring Habib because he’s a vocal critic of U.S. activities in its war with Iraq and U.S. terrorism-related policies. On May 27, District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. issued a bench ruling allowing six months of discovery, meaning that Habib will likely miss the August annual meeting of the association for the third year.

KJ