home

ACLU Appeals Dismissal of Rendition Lawsuit

By TChris, Section War on Terror
Posted on Tue Jul 25, 2006 at 02:35:03 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

by TChris

The ACLU has appealed the dismissal of a lawsuit it brought on behalf of Khaled el-Masri (TalkLeft background collected here).

Kuwaiti-born Masri says he was abducted in Macedonia in December 2001, then drugged, beaten and flown by the CIA to Afghanistan, where he was held as a terrorism suspect for five months.

The government persuaded the judge that allowing the case to move forward would jeopardize national security -- a convenient defense that shields government actors from accountability for their monstrous misbehavior.

"If this decision stands, the government will have a blank check to shield even its most shameful conduct from accountability,'' said ACLU attorney Ben Wizner.

Update: While the "state's secrets" defense was rejected (at least for now) in this lawsuit accusing AT&T of helping the government conduct illegal eavesdropping, the defense prevailed in a different suit against AT&T that was dismissed today.

Citing national security, a federal judge Tuesday threw out a lawsuit aimed at blocking AT&T from giving telephone records to the government for use in the war on terror.

"The court is persuaded that requiring AT&T to confirm or deny whether it has disclosed large quantities of telephone records to the federal government could give adversaries of this country valuable insight into the government's intelligence activities," U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said.

< Bail Denied For Police Hit Men on Drug Charge | Administration's New Plan For Detainee Trials: More of the Same >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    ACLU Appeals Dismissal of Rendition Lawsuit | 5 comments (5 topical)
    Re: ACLU Appeals Dismissal of Rendition Lawsuit (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Jul 25, 2006 at 06:23:40 PM EST
    This won't do. I hope the A.C.L.U. is planning their appeal as we speak. adversaries of this country already know AT&T is doing this. They can read it right here. To the adversaries of this country: On the offhand chance that you don't already know this, AT&T has disclosed large quantities of telephone records to the federal government.

    Re: ACLU Appeals Dismissal of Rendition Lawsuit (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Jul 25, 2006 at 07:06:13 PM EST
    Whenever I see a decision like this I am curious to know who appointed the judge. In the case of prominent judges, it's pretty easy to find this information on the web. In this case, I couldn't find Matthew F. Kennedy by searching. Does anyone know who appointed him?

    Re: ACLU Appeals Dismissal of Rendition Lawsuit (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Jul 25, 2006 at 07:07:22 PM EST
    Woops - it would help if I spelled his name correctly. Does dyslexia increase with age/

    Re: ACLU Appeals Dismissal of Rendition Lawsuit (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Jul 25, 2006 at 07:08:25 PM EST
    No investigation of mistreatment is allowed. This would help the enemy out by aiding their judgment on how they will be treated, thus the aiding their ability to judge the cost/benefit ratio of their actions. This really is sad.

    Re: ACLU Appeals Dismissal of Rendition Lawsuit (none / 0) (#5)
    by Dusty on Tue Jul 25, 2006 at 08:45:58 PM EST
    State secrets privilege has been used more and more lately. Its such a good tool for those "tools" currently running our government into the ground under the guise of the "war on terror". When it was first put into use,in the early 50's it was used sparingly. This administration has made it their favorite whine when faced with a lawsuit they dont' want to deal with.

    ACLU Appeals Dismissal of Rendition Lawsuit | 5 comments (5 topical)