The case before the Supreme Court presents fundamental questions about whether and when judges can override executive branch decisions on matters related to national security and so-called “state secrets”
A 2005 photo shows a watch tower outside of Stare Kiejkuty, Poland, the site of an alleged former CIA black site. | Czarek Sokolowski/AP PhotoThe Supreme Court wrestled Wednesday with the role of U.S. courts in protecting the last remnants of secrecy around the increasingly well-known fact that the CIA tortured terrorism suspects almost two decades ago in the early years of the war on terror.
“Why not make the witness available?” Gorsuch asked the attorney representing the U.S. government, acting Solicitor General Brian Fletcher. Fletcher said he didn’t have the authority to address such a potential compromise on the fly, a response that further irked Gorsuch. Sotomayor also floated a technical dodge of her own for the case, suggesting that the U.S. government’s decision to turn down Poland’s formal request for legal assistance under a treaty definitively resolved the issue and foreclosed Zubaydah’s request.
“At a certain point, it becomes a little bit farcical, this assertion of privilege, doesn’t it?” she asked. “Maybe we should rename it.”“We’re not talking about a secret anymore. We’re talking about a governmental wish not to assist this Polish investigation,” he said.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Supreme Court takes up secret CIA black sites in 9/11 detainee's caseThe U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will wrestle with the limits of the government state secrets privilege in a high-stakes case brought by the first al-Qaida suspect detained and harshly interrogated at a CIA “black site” after Sept. 11, 2001.
Read more »
Supreme Court asks U.S. if Guantanamo inmate can testify on torture in state secrets caseSupreme Court justices asked if the U.S. would allow a Guantanamo Bay detainee to testify about his alleged torture and confinement by the CIA.
Read more »
Supreme Court Returns for New Term—With Scant Courtroom AudienceWhen the Supreme Court justices sat down to hear their first in-person case since March 2020, the only people there to watch were a few of their spouses, retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, essential court personnel and accredited journalists
Read more »
Back in black: U.S. Supreme Court opens its momentous new termU.S. Supreme Court justices took a step back toward normalcy on Monday on the first day of their new nine-month term as they conducted oral arguments in person for the first time in 19 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, holding a muted and polite session in a socially distanced courtroom.
Read more »
Highlights from opening day at the Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court — for the first time in more than a year — returned to its courtroom to begin a new blockbuster term that will include a major Second Amendment dispute and a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade.
Read more »
New Supreme Court term, Powerball jackpot, Nobel Prize: 5 things you need to know MondayAfter more than a year of debating its docket virtually due to COVID-19, the Supreme Court returns to the courtroom Monday to conduct oral arguments in person.
Read more »