Suit opposes citizens on terror kill list

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Two civil rights groups have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the government's authority to place U.S. citizens on a terror kill list.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights say the Constitution prohibits targeted killings except as a last resort to prevent specific and imminent threats of death of serious injury.

Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, told The Washington Post the government "cannot execute people, including its own citizens, anywhere in the world based on its own say-so."

The two civil rights groups filed their lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington Monday after being retained by the father of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical U.S.-born cleric hiding in Yemen.

Earlier this year the CIA placed al-Awlaki on a list of suspected terrorists that it is authorized to kill.

A Justice Department spokesman said Congress has authorized the use of "all necessary and appropriate force" against al-Qaida and its allies.