Secrecy
55 Articles
Still Secret: Second Circuit Keeps More Drone Memos From the Public
Secret law has been anathema to our democracy since its Founding, but a federal appeals court just gave us more of it. Almost two centuries ago, James Madison wrote that “[a]…
Lawyering in Secret and the Government’s FOIA Bogeyman
Last week, in Washington, the Central Intelligence Agency’s top lawyer aired a pointed complaint — or was it a warning? — that has been bubbling about for some time. At an…
Secret Law Isn’t the Public’s Fault
Officials in this administration have a funny way of blaming the victim. Did the CIA spy on Senate intelligence committee staffers who were investigating the agency’s torture…
The Declining Half-Life of Secrets
Image credit: US Government via Wikimedia Commons The following post is a preview of a new paper from New America’s Cybersecurity Initiative, where the author is a fellow.…
There’s No Reason to Hide the Amount of Secret Law
Last week, President Obama announced a new policy that would allow private parties to pay ransoms to hostage takers. The policy was established through an executive order and an…
Chemical Weapons and Secrecy: a Terrible Combination
Last week’s New York Times article detailing the fact that, between 2004 and 2011, American troops in Iraq “secretly reported finding roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells…
Secret Courts and the Policy of “Neither Confirm Nor Deny”
On May 2, the English Court of Appeal gave judgment in (1) Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed (2) CF v Secretary of State for the Home Department. The case is the latest development in the…