Quantum Windbag
Gold Member
- May 9, 2010
- 58,308
- 5,100
- 245
So much for the claim that only right wingers think Obama is wrong to use executive privilege to cover up Fast and Furious.
Much-Abused 'State Secrets Privilege' Under Fire in Congress | Threat Level | Wired.com
Obama and his successors in the White House would be banned from using false claims of national security to conceal embarrassing or unlawful conduct by the government, under new legislation proposed by lawmakers on both sides of the House. The proposed State Secrets Protection Act, H.R. 5956, introduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York), would be the first law to rein in the presidents state secrets privilege, a nearly limitless power to kill litigation by claiming a lawsuit would expose national security information to the benefit of Americas enemies. First recognized by the US Supreme Court in a McCarthy-era lawsuit in 1953, the privilege (.pdf) has been increasingly and successfully invoked in the post-9/11 era to shield the government and its agents from court scrutiny in cases involving rendition, torture, warrantless wiretapping, and the lethal targeting of U.S. citizens.
The ongoing argument that the state secrets privilege requires the outright dismissal of a case is a disconcerting trend in the protection of civil liberties for our nation, Nadler said of the bill, unveiled last week. This important bill recognizes that protecting sensitive information is an important responsibility for any administration and requires that courts protect legitimate state secrets while preventing the premature and sweeping dismissal of entire cases.
Also signing on to the legislation is Tom Petri (R-Wisconsin), John Conyers Jr. (D-Michigan), and Zoe Lofgren (D-California).
Much-Abused 'State Secrets Privilege' Under Fire in Congress | Threat Level | Wired.com