Opinion ID: 2451
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Shortcomings of a State-Secrets Resolution

Text: We discussed the state secrets doctrine in some detail in Doe, 576 F.3d at 101-05 (describing, inter alia, the emergence of the doctrine in and after United States v. Reynolds, 345 U.S. 1, 73 S.Ct. 528, 97 L.Ed. 727 (1953)). We are not oblivious to the criticism to which it has been subject. There has been considerable debate about it, see, e.g., Robert M. Chesney, Enemy Combatants After Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: State Secrets and the Limits of National Security Litigation, 75 Geo. Wash. L.Rev. 1249, 1263-1308 (2007) ( Enemy Combatants ); Carrie Johnson, Handling of `State Secrets' At Issue, Washington Post, Mar. 25, 2009, at A1, which has been stoked by the recent surfacing of the now-declassified Air Force accident report that was the subject of Reynolds, see Barry Siegel, Claim of Privilege 205-10 (2008). [36] But this controversy has centered on the extent of the judiciary's role in making the determination of the legitimacy of the claim of privilege and the consequences of the government's refusal to produce subpoenaed material necessary to the prosecution of the plaintiff's claim. See, e.g., Enemy Combatants, 75 Geo. Wash. L.Rev. at 1288. [37] No one can seriously doubt the need for a mechanism by which the government can effectively protect its legitimate military and diplomatic secrets. The question is whether those procedures now in place best balance the need for secrecy with competing values and interests. The critics do not, we think, seek to avoid at all cost and in all circumstances the ability of the government to protect state-secrets in civil litigation or the possibility that some such litigation will ultimately be resolved as a result.