The Washington Post has an excellent article exposing the Government's use of the material witness statute to indefinitely detain people without filing criminal charges.

The Post conducted a review of 44 cases and found :

"Authorities have arrested and jailed at least 44 people as potential grand jury witnesses in the 14 months of the nationwide terrorism investigation, but nearly half have never been called to testify before a grand jury, according to defense lawyers and others involved in the cases."

"Although they had not been charged with any crimes, these "material witnesses" were often held under maximum security conditions, in detentions ranging from a few days to several months or longer. At least seven of the witnesses were U.S. citizens."

"It is unknown whether these 44 cases represent all material witnesses taken into custody since Sept. 11, 2001, or some fraction of them. Law enforcement officials previously estimated that about two dozen material witnesses were arrested in connection with the probe."

"Criminal defense attorneys and civil liberties advocates argue that the cases show how the government has bent the material witness statute -- originally designed to compel testimony from frightened or recalcitrant witnesses -- into a tool to detain suspects indefinitely while investigating them for possible links to terrorism."

Of all the persons arrested on material witness warrants, only two have been charged with a crime, James Ujaama in Seattle and Zacarias Moussaoui in Virginia. Jose Padilla, the dirty bomb suspect, has been declared an enemy combatant and is being held in a miltary brig without right of counsel. Yaser Hamdi is also being held without charges or access to counsel.

The material witness statute was enacted in 1984. It provides that "prosecutors may seek an arrest warrant if a potential witness's testimony is "material" to a criminal proceeding and the individual is likely to flee. A judge must approve the warrant, and the witness is entitled to a bond hearing and a court-appointed attorney."

The statute, 18 U.S.C. 3144, reads as follows:

Sec. 3144. - Release or detention of a material witness

If it appears from an affidavit filed by a party that the testimony of a person is material in a criminal proceeding, and if it is shown that it may become impracticable to secure the presence of the person by subpoena, a judicial officer may order the arrest of the person and treat the person in accordance with the provisions of section 3142 of this title. No material witness may be detained because of inability to comply with any condition of release if the testimony of such witness can adequately be secured by deposition, and if further detention is not necessary to prevent a failure of justice. Release of a material witness may be delayed for a reasonable period of time until the deposition of the witness can be taken pursuant to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure."