ACLU loses rendition case

NY Times:

A sharply divided federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit involving the Central Intelligence Agency’s practice of seizing terrorism suspects and transferring them to other countries for imprisonment and interrogation. The ruling handed a major victory to the Obama administration in its effort to advance a sweeping view of executive secrecy power.

By a six-to-five vote, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, reversing an earlier decision, dismissed a lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan Inc., a Boeing subsidiary accused of arranging flights for the C.I.A.’s “extraordinary rendition” program, as it is known. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the case on behalf of five former prisoners who say they were tortured because of the program – and that Jeppesen was complicit in their treatment.

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The current case turns on the question of whether the executive branch can invoke the “state secrets privilege” to shut down entire lawsuits, or whether it could only use it to withhold particular pieces of sensitive information while allowing the litigation to go forward. In April 2009, a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit adopted the narrower view, ruling that the lawsuit should proceed.

But the Obama administration appealed that ruling to the full San Francisco-based appeals court. And on Wednesday, a narrow majority endorsed the broader view of executive secrecy powers, concluding that the lawsuit must be dismissed without even a trial that would be limited to already-public information.

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This case has the smell of the ACLU doing some forum shopping hoping the liberal Ninth Circuit would rule their way. In any other circuit it probably would not have been this close a vote.

The ACLU has been the advocate for terrorist rights and thwarting our ability to preempt attacks by the enemy. They appear to be trying to make the world safer for terrorist and I would rather see us make the world safer for the rest of us.