Today, eight years later, the 48-year-old Malaysian academic and mother of four became the first person to take the U.S. to trial after being included in America’s database of suspected terrorists. At issue: whether someone wrongly watchlisted has a right to formally clear their name in court — and whether the government even has to admit that it placed someone on the list to begin with.

Ibrahim’s attorney, Elisabeth Pipkin, told the court that the trial’s purpose was to clear her client’s name. “We want her completely out of the system,” she said.