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Last updated on Wednesday, May 6, 2015
(INDIANAPOLIS) - An Indiana University faculty member sued two U.S. customs agents for detaining her after the government eavesdropped on emails she exchanged with a Greek friend.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a federal lawsuit alleging the customs agents violated Christine Von Der Haar's constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The case has been settled out of court.
The lawsuit alleges the Bloomington woman was confined in a guarded room at Indianapolis International Airport for more than six hours on June 8, 2012, while she and her friend from Greece were questioned do more than an hour over whether she and her friend planned to marry and whether they were having sexual relations. The lawsuit alleges the questioning was based on surreptitious monitoring of emails between Von Der Haar and her friend.
Neither was on a watch list, and neither were told why they were being detained.
Now Von Der Haar and lawyers at the ACLU are trying to change the Patriot Act which allows this type of surveillance to take place. The Patriot Act is set to expire on June 1 if Congress doesn't reauthorize it.
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