Sami Al-Arian, the Tampa professor charged with raising funds for terrorists, has a new lawyer--former NACDL President Bill Moffitt of Washington, D.C. Moffitt's first official attack is on the Al-Arian's pre-trial confinement conditions:

William B. Moffitt said the U.S. Justice Department's insistence that Sami Al-Arian be held under strict confinement at a federal prison northeast of Tampa is violating Al-Arian's right to assist in his own defense. A hearing will be held Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court in Tampa on the matter.

Moffitt said Al-Arian, who faces a 50-count indictment that he used an academic think tank and a charity at the University of South Florida as fronts for financing the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is being treated as though he has already been convicted of a crime. Al-Arian is housed in the same unit as inmates who have assaulted corrections officers or other prisoners and are considered too dangerous to be held elsewhere.

Moffitt is right. The Government should be made to justify its actions by spelling out its "security concerns." It shouldn't be able to simply invoke the term as a mantra to avoid scrutiny of questionable and disparate actions. Moffitt is a terrific lawyer. We're confident Al-Arian will receive a vigorous defense.