<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2716.2200" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Judge slams terror law; Lindh defense could gain BY GREG WINTER New York Times Service</DIV> <DIV> <A href="http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/3531246.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp">http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/3531246.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>LOS ANGELES - A federal judge has dismissed the Justice Department's case against seven people accused of funneling charitable donations to an Iranian military group deemed partly responsible for the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and still labeled a terrorist threat.</DIV> After deliberating for months, Judge Robert M. Takasugi of U.S. District Court in Los Angeles ruled on Friday that a 1996 law passed by Congress to classify foreign groups as terrorist organizations is ''unconstitutional on its face,'' and thus cannot be used as the basis of criminal charges. That antiterrorism law, a cornerstone of the government's case against John Walker Lindh, the American accused of aiding a foreign terrorist group, makes it a crime to provide ''material support'' to any foreign organization that the State Department deems a threat to national security. But the law gives these groups ''no notice and no opportunity'' to contest their designation, a violation of due process, Takasugi ruled. `INFIRMITIES' ''I will not abdicate my responsibilities as a district judge and turn a blind eye to the constitutional infirmities'' of the law, Takasugi wrote. -- continued</BODY></HTML>