Judge halts terror probe of charity

COLUMBUS (AP) — The U.S. government must halt its investigation into whether a Toledo charity should be deemed a terrorist organization, a judge ruled Monday.

KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development Inc. cannot be labeled a “specially designated global terrorist” pending further action by U.S. District Judge James Carr in Toledo.

Carr in August ruled that the government violated the Constitution by secretly freezing the charity’s assets in 2006. The charity had asked him to halt the investigation pending further action regarding the August ruling.

Treasury officials said KindHearts was connected with the Hamas-affiliated Holy Land Foundation and the al-Qaida-affiliated Global Relief Foundation. KindHearts leaders have denied being connected to any terrorist group and say the group is a nonprofit charitable organization that administers humanitarian aid to the world’s poor.

In his Monday ruling, the judge said the government’s actions could cause KindHearts to lose its attorneys and harm its reputation.

“Defendants are requiring KindHearts to respond to allegations that I have found constitutionally lacking,” Carr wrote. “This ... has severely prejudiced KindHearts’ ability to respond especially in light of defendants’ arbitrary and capricious denial of KindHearts’ requests to pay attorneys fees with its own blocked resources.