ACLU Sues DOJ to See ‘Targeted Killing’ Legal Justification Memos

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued to compel the Justice Department release of memos disclosing the legal justification for strikes that have killed U.S. citizens abroad.

A lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court Wednesday follows the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-Yemeni citizen and suspected al-Qaida militant who was killed in a drone strike last September, Reuters reports.

Reuters reports that American militants like al-Awlaki and American Samir Khan, who was also killed in the drone attack, are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior U.S. government officials. There are no public records of the panel's operations.

The ACLU filed suit after requests under the Freedom of Information Act were denied. A similar suit was filed in December by the New York Times.

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WAR POWERS

• • Constitutional Dilemma: The Power to Declare War Is Deeply Rooted in American History by Richard Brust
• • War Powers Belong to the President by John Yoo
• • Only Congress Can Declare War by Louis Fisher

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