Sorry for the sparse post here but I wanted to get this posted quickly. Hooray for the Ninth Circuit and the rule of law! (From SFGate.com)
In today's ruling, the court overruled the government's assertions that allowing torture suits against the CIA and private contractors - even with in camera examination of classified matters - would endanger national security. Instead, the court allowed the lower court to proceed with the lawsuit, holding that potentially damaging material can be reviewed in camera by the lower court and subjected to protective measures if appropriate. And in an especially insightful passage, the court noted:
Allowing the government to shield its conduct from court review simply because classified information is involved "would ... perversely encourage the president to classify politically embarrassing information simply to place it beyond the reach of judicial process," [Judge Michael] Hawkins said.
More soon, but it's nice to see that the courts are waking up to the fact that the government's previously secret torture policies should be open to examination and accountability, and that truly secret matters of national importance can be effectively guarded under the right circumstances.
UPDATE #1: Read the Ninth Circuit's opinion here. The court did leave open the possibility that the government could support the shielding of the requested information as a state secret, thus effectively killing the lawsuit. However, the court did make clear that it was up to the government to do so; the government cannot just wave a magic "state secrets" wand and make the court dismiss the lawsuit.
UPDATE #2: If this goes to a full Ninth Circuit en banc review, I don't suppose Jay Bybee will be on the en banc court, do you?