If you don't like the court's legal ruling, well, just have Congress change the law.
Obama Supports Torture Secrecy Legislation. Obama wants Congress to change FOIA by retroactively narrowing its disclosure requirements, prevent a legal ruling by the courts, and vest himself with brand new secrecy powers under the law which, just as a factual matter, not even George Bush sought for himself. This is a huge secrecy bill designed to circumvent the Freedom of Information Act as well as to protect people from criminal prosecution for their roles during the Bus, Cheney, and Yoo Torture Years.
http://kindlingman.wordpress.com/...
It was one thing when President Obama reversed himself last month by announcing that he would appeal the Second Circuit's ruling that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) compelled disclosure of various photographs of detainee abuse sought by the ACLU. Agree or disagree with Obama's decision, at least the basic legal framework of transparency was being respected, since Obama's actions amounted to nothing more than a request that the Supreme Court review whether the mandates of FOIA actually required disclosure in this case.
The White House is actively supporting a new bill jointly sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman -- called The Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act of 2009 -- that literally has no purpose other than to allow the government to suppress any "photograph taken between September 11, 2001 and January 22, 2009 relating to the treatment of individuals engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States in operations outside of the United States." As long as the Defense Secretary certifies -- with no review possible -- that disclosure would "endanger" American citizens or our troops, then the photographs can be suppressed even if FOIA requires disclosure. The certification lasts 3 years and can be renewed indefinitely. The Senate passed the bill as an amendment last week.
Just imagine if any other country did this. Imagine if a foreign government were accused of systematically torturing and otherwise brutally abusing detainees in its custody for years, and there was ample photographic evidence proving the extent and brutality of the abuse.
http://www.salon.com/...
S.1100, Title: A bill to provide that certain photographic records relating to the treatment of any individual engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States in operations outside the United States shall not be subject to disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act).
There you have it. The official "let’s make it a law so we don’t have to deal with it anymore" and the pass-the-buck-approach" to withholding the detainee abuse photos.
ACLU Testifies In Support Of Bill To Reform State Secrets Doctrine
June 4 - The ACLU is set to testify today before a key House subcommittee considering legislation to reform the state secrets privilege, an evidentiary rule that has been improperly used to shut down several national security related lawsuits against the federal government. The privilege, which is intended to protect discrete pieces of sensitive evidence at trial, has been asserted by the government to block entire lawsuits before any specific evidence has been considered.
The ACLU testimony before House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties is in support of H.R. 984, "The State Secrets Protection Act of 2009." Introduced by House Judiciary Chairman, Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), the bill is intended to create procedures to prevent the abuse of the privilege.
http://www.commondreams.org/...