Susan Vaughan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nFebruary 10, 2009<\/p>\n
A panel of judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard arguments in a detainee abuse case Monday that tested the degree to which the Obama administration will depart from the practices of its predecessor. To the disappointment of civil liberties groups, United States Department of Justice lawyers under President Barack Obama invoked the same national security arguments used by the former Bush administration to argue that the case should not be heard.<\/p>\n
Justice Department lawyers argued litigation in the case of Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. would expose “state secrets” and damage national security and foreign relations.<\/p>\n
But according to American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyer Ben Wizner, the case is about simple decency and due process. All five plaintiffs were subjected to so called extraordinary rendition by the Bush administration, a practice involving government-sponsored abduction and torture. They accuse Jeppesen, a subsidiary of Boeing that regularly contracts with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), of aiding and abetting the goverment’s practices.<\/p>\n
“Our clients did not make an agreement to be abducted, chained to the floor of planes, and dressed in diapers,” he said.<\/p>\n
Justice Department argues state secrets prevents litigation<\/strong><\/p>\nBut Justice Department lawyer Douglas Letter said that CIA Director General Michael Hayden had already announced that the case could not be litigated and must be dismissed on national security grounds. In order to make their case, the plaintiffs would need to prove that Jeppesen worked with the United States government on a clandestine foreign intelligence matter, Letter said. Yet, if the judges allowed the case to go forward, the state secrets privilege, as asserted by Hayden, would prevent Jeppesen from accessing classified information and defending itself.<\/p>\n
Not so, argued Wizner, who reminded the judges that they could not abdicate their roles as arbiters adding that classified information could be redacted during the discovery phase of the trial.<\/p>\n
Three-judge panel reacts<\/strong><\/p>\nJudge William Canby, Jr. observed that the Justice Department could not affirm or deny Jeppesen’s involvement in extraordinary renditions but was capable of intervening to prevent the plaintiffs’ case from moving forward. He also noted that the Justice Department was claiming classified information was secret while newspaper reporters had the information and were making it public.<\/p>\n
“It’s a classic state secrets case,” insisted Letter. “We say here is why it would be a problem.”<\/p>\n
“You’re really like the unindicted co-conspirator,” noted Judge Mary Murphy Schroeder.<\/p>\n
Canby also expressed concern about the creation of a “black hole” in which people could be kidnapped by the government without due process of law.<\/p>\n
Role of Congress considered<\/strong><\/p>\nLetter disagreed.<\/p>\n
“The state secrets privilege is very misunderstood in the press,” he said. “We have ample other means of [legal protection]. We have significant congressional oversight, inspector general [investigations], and foreign government [responses].”<\/p>\n
“This is not a typical state secrets case,” Wizner maintained. “By virtue of the [CIA] director’s statement, it is off the table for congressional investigation.”<\/p>\n
Noting the extensive media coverage of extraordinary renditions and detainee abuses, Wizner added, “The notion that you [the judges] have to close your eyes and ears to what everyone else is talking about is absurd.”<\/p>\n
Ultimate disposition of the case is unknown<\/strong><\/p>\nThe case originally came before U.S. District Court Judge James Ware in February 2008, but Ware dismissed the case when Hayden and the Bush administration intervened, arguing that official state secrets would be jeopardized. The plaintiffs are now seeking to have their case reinstated or remanded to district court.<\/p>\n
While it is unknown how or when the judges will rule, the ACLU expressed disappointment in the stance taken by the Obama administration.<\/p>\n
“Eric Holder’s Justice Department stood up in court today and said that it would continue the Bush policy of invoking state secrets to hide the reprehensible history of torture, rendition, and the most grievous human rights violations committed by the American government,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero.<\/p>\n
“This is not change,” said Ben Wizner. “This is definitely more of the same. Candidate Obama ran on a platform that would reform the abuse of state secrets, but President Obama’s Justice Department has disappointingly reneged on that important civil liberties issue. If this is a harbinger of things to come, it will be a long and arduous road to give us back an America we can be proud of again.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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