Wha? How? Why?
I just don’t understand. During the campaign I didn’t believe all the Obama critics who said he was all talk, preaching a gospel of “hope” without anything real behind it. Yet, evidence seems to be mounting that, to some extent, that was true. It’s hard not to agree w/Glenn Greenwald’s assessment: “There is no viable excuse, or even mitigation, for what they did here.”Obama Administration Maintains Bush Position on ‘Extraordinary Rendition’ Lawsuit
The Obama Administration today announced that it would keep the same position as the Bush Administration in the lawsuit Mohamed et al v Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.
A source inside of the Ninth U.S. District Court tells ABC News that a representative of the Justice Department stood up to say that its position hasn’t changed, that new administration stands behind arguments that previous administration made, with no ambiguity at all. The DOJ lawyer said the entire subject matter remains a state secret.
This is not going to please civil libertarians and human rights activists who had hoped the Obama administration would allow the lawsuit to proceed.
Excuse me. I have some crying to do.
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February 10th, 2009 at 8:48 am
How do we entertain the notion that the government can just say “state secrets” and get the case dismissed outright? Assuming it does not lead to abuse, shouldn’t the proper response of a court if the government asserts the state secrets privilege to enter a default judgment against the government and grant the remedy the plaintiffs seek?