Federal appeals court orders Justice Dept. to release ‘white paper’ on drone program

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/21/federal-appeals-court-orders-justice-dept-to-release-white-paper-on-drone-program/



Federal appeals court orders Justice Dept. to release ‘white paper’ on drone program
By Reuters
Monday, April 21, 2014 17:47 EDT
By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal appeals court ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over key portions of a memorandum justifying the government’s targeted killing of people linked to terrorism, including Americans.

In a case pitting executive power against the public’s right to know what its government does, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling preserving the secrecy of the legal rationale for the killings, such as the death of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen.

Ruling for the New York Times, a unanimous three-judge panel said the government waived its right to secrecy by making repeated public statements justifying targeted killings.

These included a Justice Department “white paper,” as well as speeches or statements by officials like Attorney General Eric Holder and former Obama administration counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, endorsing the practice.