Stop State Secrets Privilege Abuse!

The State Secrets Protection Act (S.2533) presents an opportunity to put a stop to one of the main tactics of evasion and obstruction in the Administration's bag of legal tricks! Contact your Senator to help shore up support for this critical legislation.

Upcoming legislation presents an opportunity to put a stop to one of the main tactics of evasion and obstruction in the Administration's bag of legal tricks!

The state secrets privilege has been misused by the White House to hide evidence of its wrongdoing, and even to try to dismiss important lawsuits, with a unilateral claim that "state secrets" are endangered. The doctrine was adopted by the Supreme Court in the McCarthy era, and was originally meant to be used only in exceptional circumstances. However, since 2001, the Bush Administration has repeatedly abused the privilege in attempts to cover up potentially embarrassing or illegal activities.

For instance, when the ACLU sued the NSA in 2006, asserting that domestic spying activities were unconstitutional, the Justice Department used the privilege to keep the court from deciding the case on the merits. And, right now, the Bush administration is trying to do the same thing to the EFF's lawsuit against AT&T and other lawbreaking telecom companies.

Now, Congress may finally be ready to act to rein in these abuses. The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider S.2533, the State Secrets Protection Act, which would bring much needed judicial supervision that could help eliminate bogus state secrets claims, while carefully protecting legitimate interests in national security.

If one of your Senators is on the Judiciary Committee (see below), then you're uniquely positioned to encourage the Committee to approve this legislation and make a real difference in fighting government secrecy! Contact them now and tell them to support the State Secrets Protection Act.

These Senators are on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. If you're a constituent of one of the Senators below, please click through and take action!