Supreme Court Asked to Review State Secrets, Torture Case

By David Kravets December 8, 2010

The Supreme Court is being asked to review a lawsuit a lower court had dismissed against a Boeing subsidiary accused of helping the CIA transport detainees to secret foreign prisons where they were allegedly tortured.

The appeal to the high court concerns a September decision by the San Francisco–based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which cited the Obama administration’s evocation of the state-secrets privilege as grounds for dismissing the case. The lawsuit was brought by five foreign nationals who claimed the CIA, working with other governments, operated a so-called “extraordinary rendition” program to gather intelligence.

Ruling 6-5, a panel of the Circuit Court had ruled it was bound by a 1953 Supreme Court precedent (.pdf) requiring judges to dismiss cases if litigating them might expose government secrets and imperil national security.

“The Supreme Court has not reviewed the government’s use of the ’state secrets’ privilege in more than half-a-century. In recent years, we have seen the executive branch engage in grave human rights violations, declare those activities ’state secrets,’ and thus avoid any judicial oversight or accountability,” said Steven Shapiro, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which urged the justices Tuesday to review the appellate decision.

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http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/12/state-secrets-torture/

Give the Filthy Five torture video and private booths. Let them enjoy themselves.

the parties can discuss with a judge in a scif. There is no reason to deny rights to aggrieved people through evocation of the state secrets privilege if the party harmed was harmed through an illegal act.