Federal Judge Blocks U.S. Sanctions on U.N. Expert

A federal judge temporarily blocked U.S. sanctions against a U.N. expert on the Palestinian territories on Wednesday, ruling that the measures likely violated her free-speech rights. The expert had criticized Israel's war in Gaza and called for war crimes prosecutions at the International Criminal Court.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon found that the State Department targeted Francesca Albanese because of the "idea or message expressed" in her advocacy. The sanctions had barred her from entering the United States and from banking there. Albanese is an Italian lawyer serving as the U.N. special rapporteur on the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories.

Albanese had labeled Israel's actions in Gaza a "genocide" and called for the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. " Those statements prompted the Trump administration to designate her a dangerous foreign national and impose the sanctions last year.

" Leon, a Bush appointee to the court in Washington, determined that her U.S. property ownership through her Italian husband and her 12-year-old daughter's interests were sufficient to extend First Amendment protections to her despite living abroad.

“Albanese has done nothing more than speak!”

The Trump administration had argued that its need for a free hand in foreign policy outweighed the rights of a noncitizen living abroad. Leon countered that even if valid foreign policy goals existed, the sanctions were too draconian to survive constitutional scrutiny.

Albanese's husband and daughter, who holds U.S. citizenship, sued the Trump administration in February. " The judge's opinion noted that Albanese's residency outside the U.S. does not undercut her protections under the First Amendment. He found the administration sought to regulate her speech based on its content.