U.S. Congress - H.R.984 State Secret Protection Act of 2009
H.R.984 - State Secret Protection Act of 2009
To provide safe, fair, and responsible procedures and standards for resolving claims of state secret privilege. view all titles (2)
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- Official: To provide safe, fair, and responsible procedures and standards for resolving claims of state secret privilege. as introduced.
- Short: State Secret Protection Act of 2009 as introduced.
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Read this – http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/10/obama/
This bill will prevent dismissing claims based on state secrets.
Soviet-style secrecy is facing a new challenge from the Internet’s power to unite a disparate community of busybodies. How can anyone argue that “state secrets” are enough to prevent justice. These people are NOT threats to the United States, and they should be allowed the full range of rights we as a people have guaronteed. They are not guilty until AFTER they have their day in court. Instead of preventing the trials from going forward, our country is trying to hide their incomitancies from the public. If we have evidence that is classified, it is perfectly acceptable to disclose that evidence to the judge and jury in a secure manner. Please don’t sacrafice our freedoms for what is percieved to be protection from an elusive terrorist organization.
I am not so sure this legislation will be effective with regards to the intent of forcing the Government to “prove” to a court that information may be detrimental to the security of The United States, I suppose it is worth a try.
As for requiring the government to prove its secrets are legitimate secrets, it’s kind of like the insanity defense: should a person be able to claim “insanity” and automatically win a case because they claim they’re insane? I don’t think so. Should the government be allowed to automatically win cases because they claim the facts are secret? Just like claims of insanity, claims of secrecy should be reviewed with an extremely skeptical eye, because in most cases, claims of secrecy as a defense are absolute horsefeathers, just as claims of insanity are.
This bill strikes that ability. “if the court orders the Government to provide … and the Government fails to comply, in addition to any other appropriate sanctions, the court shall find against the Government on the factual or legal issue to which the privileged information is relevant.“ They can still withhold, but it will not help them; they’ll lose the argument and possibly the case.