US official privilege
 
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:42:00 -0600 (CST)



When I first came to the US from the UK in the late 50's, the Brits had a 
long statutory history ( since 1911) of an Official Secrets ACT which was 
used to prevent discussion of any official act the government wished to 
hide. By contrast, the US had no such legislation and only or two legal 
decisions to favor the blocking of access to governmental info.

Official Leaks and whistleblowers were largely unknown in the UK.  But in 
the US we've seen a tremendous increase in Federal claims of 
official/executive privilege, and very few of these claims have been 
tested - especially if the claim of privilege is based on something 
totally vague as a claim that "national security" is at risk.

Time to put a damper on such unsupportable claims.

Michael

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http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0213-06.htm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ACLU February 13, 2008

(202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org

STATE SECRETS PRIVILEGE DANGEROUSLY OVERBROAD

WASHINGTON, DC - February 13 - Today the Senate Judiciary Committee 
convened to hear testimony on an evidentiary rule known as the state 
secret privilege. Committee member Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) 
introduced legislation last month to narrow the scope of the privilege. 
During the Bush administration, the state secrets privilege has been 
increasingly and improperly used as a shield to prevent investigation into 
executive branch misconduct.

The most notable invocation of the privilege was to stall the case of an 
innocent German citizen, Khaled El-Masri, who was kidnapped, detained and 
tortured in a secret overseas prison. His suit against the government was 
stalled after the administration invoked the privilege.

"The Bush administration consistently uses the claim of state secrets to 
avoid any scrutiny, sacrificing even the impression of accountability," 
said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the American Civil Liberties 
Union's Washington Legislative Office. "The violations this administration 
has inflicted on the Constitution have been severe and systematic. It's 
time for Congress to intervene and to reinforce the system of checks and 
balances."

ACLU litigators have challenged the Bush administration's illegal policies 
of warrantless surveillance, extraordinary rendition and torture in the 
courts. The administration has frequently invoked the privilege not to 
protect sensitive evidence from disclosure, but to stymie entire lawsuits 
alleging executive misconduct - even before any requests for evidence have 
been made. The ACLU is urging Congress to exercise its constitutional 
authority and pass legislation to narrow the state secrets privilege, and 
require courts to exercise independent judicial review over all government 
state secrets claims.

"The state secrets privilege has been used in recent years as a legal `A' 
bomb, annihilating cases that may expose the government," continued 
Fredrickson. "The cost of those cases being hamstrung is a human cost. For 
the people who have suffered due to government misconduct, Senator 
Kennedy's legislation gives hope that their cases may run their due course 
to a just result. In the interest of justice, Congress should quickly pass 
this legislation."

For more on the ACLU's work on NSA spying, go to: www.aclu.org/nsaspying