Material support for terror org. illegal, even for legal activities: US court.

The US Supreme Court upheld a federal law banning "material support" for foreign terrorist organizations, even advice about entirely legal activities, disregarding arguments that the measure treads on free speech rights, a report said.

Although fraught with implications for post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism efforts, the case predated the attacks and involved foreign organizations pressing causes unfamiliar to most Americans—the Kurdish separatist party known as the PKK and the LTTE, the WallStreet Journal said. 

The vote was 6-3, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing for the majority. Justice Stephen Breyer dissented, joined by two other liberals. 

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld a law banning material support for terrorists, rejecting a free-speech challenge. WSJ's Jess Bravin explains. 

The ban on material support to groups designated as foreign terrorists by the secretary of state first passed in 1996 was toughened under the post-9/11 Patriot Act. Congress later modified it to address constitutional concerns raised by lower courts. 

Currently, material support includes not only money or materiel, but also "training" and "expert advice or assistance," the matters at issue in Monday's case, Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project. 

The primary plaintiff in the case, retired U.S. administrative law judge Ralph Fertig, is a civil rights activist and college professor who said he sought to instruct the PKK in ways to advance its goals through the peaceful use of international law. 

The US Supreme Court upheld a federal law banning "material support" for foreign terrorist organizations, even advice about entirely legal activities, disregarding arguments that the measure treads on free speech rights, a report said. 

Although fraught with implications for post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism efforts, the case predated the attacks and involved foreign organizations pressing causes unfamiliar to most Americans—the Kurdish separatist party known as the PKK and the LTTE, the Wall Street Journal said. 

The vote was 6-3, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing for the majority. Justice Stephen Breyer dissented, joined by two other liberals. 

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld a law banning material support for terrorists, rejecting a free-speech challenge. WSJ's Jess Bravin explains.