Washington ? Urging dismissal of a court challenge to the USA Patriot Act, the Justice Department said Friday that it had never used search and seizure powers in the law that were being challenged by civil rights and Muslim groups.

The lawsuit against the post-Sept. 11 statute targeting terrorism is premature and conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court rulings, the department said in 40 pages of arguments filed in federal court in Detroit.

Section 215 of the law expands the FBI’s authority to secretly obtain records from various organizations, including libraries, churches and hospitals. The American Civil Liberties Union has argued that change violates constitutional rights.

The department said the groups challenging the law “cannot seriously contend that Section 215 fails to meet” constitutional standards. People’s “Fourth Amendment rights do not extend to records or personal belongings that they have provided to third parties.”

The government argued that the case should be dismissed because the portion of the law at issue has never been used.

“The Justice Department, including the FBI, recognizing the need for judicious use of its law enforcement tools, has never sought” an order “with respect to these plaintiffs or anyone else for that matter,” said the department.

“While the government may use this provision under appropriate circumstances in the future, the attorney general has not, to date, found that such measures were required in an investigation.”