LAW PUNDIT Tuesday, January 13, 2004 1/13/2004 01:41:00 AM [Home]
Executive Secrecy, Immigration Detainees and the FOIA
Executive Secrecy, Immigration Detainees and the FOIA
An article by Anne Gearan of the Associated Press at azstarnet.com reports that the US Supreme Court, in the case of Center for National Security Studies v. Justice Department [03-472], has denied without comment a petition for a writ of certiorari to review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Center for National Security Studies, et al, v. U.S. Department of Justice, 331 F.3d 918, 927 (D.C. Cir. 2003), which upheld Executive Secrecy with regard to "immigration detainees" detained by the Executive after 9/11. The denial of the writ allows the Court of Appeals decision to stand.
See the DOJ brief here.
This holding by the US Supreme Court adheres to a line of decision-making which we have predicted that the U.S. Supreme Court will take in the detainee cases, intelligently avoiding any direct confrontation with the executive powers of the President under the Constitution.
Simply as a legal matter, it was easier for the Supreme Court to reject this case, since no habeas corpus was involved as an issue - contrary to other upcoming cases, but rather involved the question of the application of Section 7(A) of the Freedom of Information Act which authorizes the withholding of:
"records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that production of such law enforcement records or information . . . could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings."
As stated in the DOJ Reference Guide:
Ctr. for Nat'l Sec. Studies v. United States Dep't of Justice, 331 F.3d 918 (D.C. Cir. 2003), petition for cert. filed, 72 U.S.L.W. 3248 (U.S. Sept. 29, 2003) (No. 03-472) -- 2-1 decision upholding nondisclosure of the identities and other information pertaining to all immigration detainees taken into custody in the government's post-9/11 terrorist investigation, including the identities of their attorneys; extending the courts' "long-recognized deference to the executive on national security issues" to Exemption 7(A) "in appropriate cases, such as this one"; concluding that disclosure "would give terrorist organizations a composite picture of the government investigation" and thus enable them to impede it through witness intimidation, evidence tampering, evasion, and the formulation of "counter-efforts."
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 1/13/2004 01:41:00 AM
Executive Secrecy, Immigration Detainees and the FOIA
Executive Secrecy, Immigration Detainees and the FOIA
An article by Anne Gearan of the Associated Press at azstarnet.com reports that the US Supreme Court, in the case of Center for National Security Studies v. Justice Department [03-472], has denied without comment a petition for a writ of certiorari to review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Center for National Security Studies, et al, v. U.S. Department of Justice, 331 F.3d 918, 927 (D.C. Cir. 2003), which upheld Executive Secrecy with regard to "immigration detainees" detained by the Executive after 9/11. The denial of the writ allows the Court of Appeals decision to stand.
See the DOJ brief here.
This holding by the US Supreme Court adheres to a line of decision-making which we have predicted that the U.S. Supreme Court will take in the detainee cases, intelligently avoiding any direct confrontation with the executive powers of the President under the Constitution.
Simply as a legal matter, it was easier for the Supreme Court to reject this case, since no habeas corpus was involved as an issue - contrary to other upcoming cases, but rather involved the question of the application of Section 7(A) of the Freedom of Information Act which authorizes the withholding of:
"records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that production of such law enforcement records or information . . . could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings."
As stated in the DOJ Reference Guide:
Ctr. for Nat'l Sec. Studies v. United States Dep't of Justice, 331 F.3d 918 (D.C. Cir. 2003), petition for cert. filed, 72 U.S.L.W. 3248 (U.S. Sept. 29, 2003) (No. 03-472) -- 2-1 decision upholding nondisclosure of the identities and other information pertaining to all immigration detainees taken into custody in the government's post-9/11 terrorist investigation, including the identities of their attorneys; extending the courts' "long-recognized deference to the executive on national security issues" to Exemption 7(A) "in appropriate cases, such as this one"; concluding that disclosure "would give terrorist organizations a composite picture of the government investigation" and thus enable them to impede it through witness intimidation, evidence tampering, evasion, and the formulation of "counter-efforts."
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 1/13/2004 01:41:00 AM
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