“They were verbally abused by the guards,” Hamud continued. “They were called ‘f—-ing terrorists.’ The average temperature of MCC prison is that of a meat locker. The guards used to brag that it is kept cold because it keeps the prisoners lethargic. The prisoners get to wear a single jump suit, bright orange, and have a single blanket on their bed. Not charged with any crime, my clients are in this environment.”

He concluded: “My clients were treated illegally and unconstitutionally. They were interrogated without being given their Miranda rights, the Constitution was thrown aside. One of my clients, Osama Awadallah, was eventually indicted for lying to the grand jury.”

U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin recently threw out the indictment of Awadallah on the grounds that the statements on which it was based were obtained while the defendant was illegally imprisoned. She said the government abused the material witness statute, which states that a person may be detained if the government thinks they have information critical to a criminal proceeding.

In her ruling, Scheindlin declared. “Relying on the material witness statute to detain people who are presumed innocent under our Constitution is an illegitimate use of the statute.”