KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc. v. Geithner et al.

KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc. was established in 2002 - after the government shut down a number of other charities - with the express purpose of providing humanitarian aid abroad and at home in the United States in full compliance with the law.

In February 2006, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) froze KindHearts' assets without notice or a hearing, based simply on the assertion that the charity was "under investigation." OFAC then threatened to designate KindHearts as a "specially designated global terrorist" (SDGT) based on classified evidence, again without providing it with a reason or meaningful opportunity to defend itself.

In October 2008, a federal judge granted the ACLU's request for an emergency order blocking the government from designating KindHearts as an SDGT without further judicial review. In August 2009, the court ruled for the first time that the government cannot freeze an organization’s assets without obtaining a warrant based upon probable cause. The court also held that the government violated KindHearts' right to due process by freezing its assets without providing it adequate notice of the basis for the freeze or a meaningful opportunity to defend itself.