This may be a bit late for a lot of people, but reuters reports
it will adopt a new policy that could limit the government's claims of state secrets to block lawsuits on national security grounds, a Bush-era tactic kept by the Obama administration in some high-profile cases.
The department said it will not invoke state secrets for the purpose of "concealing government wrongdoing or avoiding embarrassment to government agencies or officials."
It is really sad that this is even a policy and not just how things are done, and October 1st may seem a bit late for some, but it's time for some sunshine!!
THE NARROWEST WAY POSSIBLE'
Holder said in a statement that the new policy "sets out clear procedures that will provide greater accountability and ensure the state secrets privilege is invoked only when necessary and in the narrowest way possible."
The Justice Department said a state secrets claim will be invoked in court only when "genuine and significant harm to national defense or foreign relations is at stake."
The policy also will set up a new Justice Department review committee, and will require Holder's approval before the claim can be invoked.
Talking Points Memo breaks it down pretty well
But today brings news that may represent a sharp break with the Bushies' failed policy on that issue. In a memo signed by Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department has announced new limits on the government's ability to assert the privilege.
The initial response to the announcement from those who have opposed the government's conduct on state secrets has been cautiously optimistic. Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), who had co-sponsored a bill to reform the process, said in a statement that the new policy "bring a higher degree of transparency and accountability to a process previously shrouded in darkness." But he added: "I remain especially concerned with ensuring that the government make a substantial evidentiary showing to a federal judge in asserting the privilege, and I hope the administration and the Department of Justice will continue to work with Congress to establish this requirement."
Of course there is a giant asterisk as outlined by the Washington Post
The policy, however, is unlikely to change the administration's approach in two high-profile cases, including one in San Francisco filed by an Islamic charity whose lawyers claim they were subjected to illegal government wiretapping. That dispute, involving the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, provoked an outcry from the American Civil Liberties Union and other public policy groups this year after the Obama Justice Department followed the Bush strategy and asserted "state secrets" arguments to try to stop the case.
I am cautiously optimistic. It is a step in the right direction? Is it a big enough step? Is it actually moving us anywhere? I'm sure we can discuss that amongst ourselves.
UPDATE: Thanks to Joe Beese - Another perspective -
from emptywheel
In a nutshell, the Administration's new policy requires that a state secrets claim must be run by the DOJ leadership before being invoked in court. What, this wasn't being done before?
Contrast this effectively meaningless policy from the Administration with that contemplated by Senators Pat Leahy and Russ Feingold in proposed Senate legislation on state secrets policy (Jerrold Nadler has a similar proposal in the House), which would:
As can be discerned, there is quite a difference in the quality and seriousness of policy proposals. The Obama Administration has done nothing but put the proverbial lipstick on the existing baked pig.