A federal appeals court overturned a lower court Thursday and ruled against an Oregon lawyer once wrongly suspected in a terrorist bombing. Brandon Mayfield was arrested in 2004 and held for two weeks after his Portland home and office were searched and bugged. The FBI relied on a fingerprint from the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people. It turned out the fingerprint didn't belong to Mayfield, who got an apology and $2 million from the federal government. Mayfield wants to overturn two parts of the USA Patriot Act passed after 9/11 that ensnared him. A district judge sided with him in 2007. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Mayfield can't challenge the act because the settlement limited his legal options. |