Appeals Court Reinstates Torture Suit Despite State Secrets Claim

A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit that claims a Boeing subsidiary helped the CIA transport prisoners to overseas prisons for torture.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco said the lawsuit should not be dismissed based on the government’s assertion it could reveal state secrets, the New York Times reports. The court said the government could still assert the privilege to protect specific evidence, according to the Wall Street Journal account (sub. req.)

A federal judge had dismissed the suit against Jeppesen Dataplan Inc., claiming it could jeopardize national security and foreign relations. Both the Bush and Obama administrations have cited the state secrets privilege in seeking dismissal of the suit.

Judge Michael Hawkins wrote the decision for the 9th Circuit panel, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "According to the government's theory, the judiciary should effectively cordon off all secret government actions from judicial scrutiny, immunizing the CIA and its partners from the demands and limits of the law," Hawkins wrote.

Allowing the government to shield its conduct from court review simply because classified information is involved "would ... perversely encourage the president to classify politically embarrassing information simply to place it beyond the reach of judicial process," Hawkins said.