Case challenges U.S. anti-terrorism laws

PORTLAND, Ore., July 12 (UPI) -- A Portland, Ore., lawyer held as a suspect but later cleared in the Madrid terror bombings goes to court this week in a closely watched civil liberties battle.

Brandon Mayfield, a 38-year-old Muslim convert, was held for two weeks last year when he was mistakenly linked to a fingerprint found at the scene of the Madrid rail station bombings.

The FBI later apologized and cleared Mayfield of wrongdoing.

Mayfield will ask a federal judge to allow him to interview federal agents and have access to the documents used to build a case against him in his civil rights lawsuit, The Oregonian reported.

The case centers on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1979, which allows the government to collect information on suspected foreign operatives, and the USA Patriot Act, which allows that information to be used in criminal prosecutions.

Separately, Mayfield's attorneys go before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an effort to get back everything that federal agents took from his home and office.