Justice to Tackle Federal Secrecy Abuses

How about that Eric Holder? The Justice Department plans to make it harder for the government to hide behind “national security” in legal cases — a process that has been abused since a highly flawed Supreme Court decision first allowed wide latitude in such matters.

Congress may still take up the issue, setting clearer guidelines for the executive and judiciary. — PS

New York Times:

The new policy, which could be announced as early as Wednesday, would require approval by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. if military or espionage agencies wanted to assert the privilege to withhold classified evidence sought in court or to ask a judge to dismiss a lawsuit at its onset.

“The department is adopting these policies and procedures to strengthen public confidence that the U.S. government will invoke the privilege in court only when genuine and significant harm to national defense or foreign relations is at stake and only to the extent necessary to safeguard those interests,” says a draft of a memorandum from Mr. Holder laying out the policy and obtained by The New York Times.

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