Oregon Public Broadcasting

Thursday attorneys for a shuttered Southern Oregon charity went to court. Al-Haramain is challenging its designation as a group that supported terrorism. April Baer reports.

These designations are made by the U.S. Treasury Department.  And once an organization is branded as terrorist-friendly, the government can freeze its assets and effectively shut it down, even when criminal charges haven't been filed.

David Cole is a well-known constitutional lawyer who argued the case for Al-Haramain.

The government says the charity had suspicious links with terrorist groups. But Cole notes that four years after the designation, no solid evidence has been made public.

David Cole: "This statute gives the government power to kill an organization, and to criminalize any kind of association with that organization without a hearing, without a trial, without notice of the charges against it, and without a statement of reasons. That's an unprecedented power, and in our view it's an unconstitutional power."

The Treasury and Justice Departments have declined comment, but in oral arguments, government attorneys said their classified evidence had been heavily vetted.

Now it's for Portland Judge Garr King to decide.

Al Haramain's Oregon leader, Pete Seda, was charged in connection with money-laundering, and tax fraud.