WASHINGTON – A sharply divided federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit involving the Central Intelligence Agency’s practice of seizing terrorism suspects and transferring them to other countries for imprisonment and interrogation. The ruling handed a major victory to the Obama administration in its effort to advance a sweeping view of executive secrecy power.Read the rest of this dreadful news here.
By a six-to-five vote, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, reversing an earlier decision, dismissed a lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan Inc., a Boeing subsidiary accused of arranging flights for the C.I.A.’s “extraordinary rendition” program, as it is known. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the case on behalf of five former prisoners who say they were tortured because of the program – and that Jeppesen was complicit in their treatment.
Judge Raymond C. Fisher described the case as presenting “a painful conflict between human rights and national security.” But, he said, the majority had “reluctantly” concluded that the lawsuit represented “a rare case” in which the government’s need to protect state secrets trumped the plaintiffs’ need to have any day in court.
The decision bolstered an array of ways in which the Obama administration has pressed forward with broad counter-terrorism policies after taking over from the Bush team, a degree of continuity that has departed from the expectations fostered by President Obama’s campaign rhetoric, which was often sharply critical of President Bush’s approach.
Among other policies, the Obama team has also placed a United States citizen on a targeted-killings list without a trial, blocked efforts by detainees in Afghanistan to bring habeas-corpus lawsuits challenging their indefinite imprisonment, and continued the C.I.A. rendition program – though the administration says it now takes greater safeguards to prevent detainees from being mistreated.
The American Civil Liberties Union swiftly said it would appeal the ruling in the Jeppesen Dataplan case to the Supreme Court, presenting the Roberts Court with a fresh opportunity to weigh in on a high-profile case testing the scope and limits of presidential power when it comes to countering terrorism.
Let their be no doubt. We live in a country where the government can do what it wants, to who it wants, whenever it wants; because it is the government. The rule of law is, if not quite dead, at least on life support.
Let me be clear. The "Government" has no needs. Governments serve the good of citizens or they hold no legitimate executive power.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't just a bad day for the rule of law, but for liberty itself.
We live in a country where the government can do what it wants, to who it wants, whenever it wants; because it is the government.
ReplyDeleteThe rule of law exists at the pleasure of those who write, execute, and enforce it, and that is -- surprise! -- the government. Yes, it sucks, but how can it possibly be any other way? Government, by definition, cannot be governed by an external entity -- such an external entity merely becomes an extension of the government. A government that has the power to make laws must also have the power to break laws, and then pardon itself over breaking those laws. Otherwise, the power is meaningless. Don't kid yourself that there's any other incentive for wielding that power. Government will not limit itself in any meaningful way -- to do is simply to commit suicide. Once a government decides that it will do something, it will do it, period. That this setup is prone to abuses is frankly a feature, and not a bug -- there is no such thing as a benign dictatorship.
This is why I stopped voting after 2000. I realized that no matter who you put in office, they were going to do more or less the same things. They can't get to a place where they're electable if that isn't the case in the first place.
Richard
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
ReplyDeleteSuch a grand vision so strangely lacking today in the country in which it was born.
Note also the use of legally murky private contractors. A lot of palms are being greased in this war.
ReplyDelete