EDITORIAL
Yet another mystery courtesy of Patriot Act

There's something distinctly un-American about detaining a suspect indefinitely without charging him with a crime. Yet under the USA Patriot Act's supercharged material witness statute, it's happening more often than we know.

Take the recent case of Oregon lawyer Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim convert who was detained in connection with the Madrid bombings after FBI officials matched his fingerprint to one found on a bag of detonators found near the blasts. He had been held since May 6 without being charged under the material witness statute.

Mayfield was released Thursday after Spanish authorities said the fingerprints belonged to another man. One former U.S. Justice Department official calls Mayfield one "in a long line of mistaken detentions."

At least 44 witnesses have been detained under the material witness statute, but nearly half have not been called to testify before grand juries.

Naturally, if there is evidence linking suspects to terrorist attacks, they must be fully investigated. The question is, how was Mayfield, who, according to his family, has not left the country in 10 years, linked to the Madrid bombings?

A federal judge has issued a gag order to prevent officials from discussing the case. Not good enough. This case deserves an explanation.