The lawyer for Oregon attorney Brandon Mayfield released the following statement from Mayfield on Wednesday:

"Although my family and I can never be made whole for the illegal and unwarranted violations of our privacy, the secret searches of our home and my law office, and the tapping of our phones, the settlement of our financial damages claim allows our case to move forward against the government on its most important issue: that the Patriot Act is unconstitutional.

Not only does my detention as a material witness in the Madrid bombing underscore the fallacy that fingerprint identification is reliable, I hope the public will remember that the U.S. Government also targeted me and my family because of our Muslim religion. That act, by the U.S. Government, is one that all U.S. citizens should stand up and protest. Our freedom of religion in this country is a sacred right, and the exercise of one's beliefs in a lawful manner should never be a factor in a Government's investigation of any citizen.

The power of the government, to secretly search your home or business without probable cause, under the guise of an alleged terrorist investigation, must be stopped. I look forward to the day when the Patriot Act is declared unconstitutional, and all citizens are safe from unwarranted arrest and searches by the Federal Government."