"The Court's ruling, however, did not declare legal immunity for Ashcroft or Mueller - or, for that matter, lower-ranking officials who allegedly carried out discriminatory policies sent down from the top. Rather, it dealt only with the requirements that had to be made in the initial lawsuit to show that the selection of those to be rounded up, and their alleged mistreatment in a Manhattan jail, were the result of race, religious or national origin bias, in order to survive a motion to dismiss the case at the outset.

"The Court, in fact, left it to the Second Circuit Court to decide in the first instance whether to allow those who brought the case to amend their lawsuit in hopes of bolstering it."

In other words, they ruled that the complaint didn't show discriminatory intent, only effect, and that the appeals court could allow the plaintiff to file an amended complaint claiming discriminatory intent if it chose to do so.

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