EFF Tim Jones: Stopping Abuse of the State Secrets Privilege

[L. Coyote]

Stopping Abuse of the State Secrets Privilege
Tim Jones - http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/04/state-secrets-privilege

Update: A victory! On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the State Secrets Protection Act (http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/committee_passes_state_secrets.html). Thanks to everyone who contacted their Senator. Stay tuned to Deeplinks for more info as the bill moves through the Senate.

This week presents an opportunity to put a stop to one of the main tactics in the Bush administration's bag of sketchy legal tricks.

The State Secrets Privilege (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_secrets_privilege) allows the White House to hide evidence of wrongdoing, and even to try to dismiss important lawsuits, with a unilateral claim that "State Secrets" are endangered. This doctrine was adopted by the Supreme Court in the McCarthy era, and was originally meant to be used only in exceptional circumstances. However, since 2001, the Bush Administration has repeatedly abused the Privilege in attempts to cover up potentially embarrassing or illegal activities.

For instance, when the ACLU sued the NSA in 2006, asserting that domestic spying activities were unconstitutional (http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/index.html) ...

.....

National Journal detailed how "the government has shown, time and time again, that it cannot be trusted not to use bogus national security claims to avoid exposure of misconduct or embarrassment." http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/openingargument.php

The New York Times editorial board asked "Whose Privilege?," writing ... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/opinion/18fri1.html

The New Yorker published an article discussing the problems states secrets abuse poses ... http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/28/080428fa_fact_keefe?printable=true

..... support the State Secrets Protection Act.

[L. Coyote]

1. Senators Seek to Stymie State Secret Shenanigans

April 25th, 2008
Senators Seek to Stymie State Secret Shenanigans
Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica - http://www.eff.org/press/mentions/2008/4/25

The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved legislation that seeks to clarify the rules governing the disclosure of state secrets in the courtroom. The bill's chief sponsor, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), has touted the legislation as a response to President Bush's aggressive invocation of the state secret privilege in litigation challenging the conduct of the "war on terror." The 11-8 vote was almost entirely along party lines, with only Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) breaking ranks to vote in favor of the bill.

The state secrets privilege has been at the heart of the wiretapping cases that we have covered here at Ars. Back in 2006, the Bush administration intervened in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's class action lawsuit against AT&T, arguing that the litigation could not be conducted fairly because any information about the NSA's "secret room" would be classified. The administration made the same argument in its effort to stop five state regulatory agencies from probing telco participation in the NSA programs .....

[L. Coyote]

2. bump