Transparency
387 Articles
Reflections on What the Drone Memo Does and Doesn’t Say
There is already a lot of commentary on the OLC drone memo, and likely more to come. Here, I just want to highlight three key issues that should be part of the mix: #1: Issues…
DOJ OLC Targeted Killing Memo Released
This morning the 2nd Circuit published a redacted version of the long-sought Department of Justice OLC memo that authorized the killing of U.S. citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki. We’ve…
The Drone Memo Cometh
“Severe Clear,” a project by artist David Birkin. Skywriting appears over New York City in a celestial “Glomar” response. For more, see Birkin’s post here. In…
10 Years of Drone Strikes in Pakistan–but do you know whether it’s an “area of active hostilities”?
Today marks the ten-year anniversary of the first reported US drone strike in Pakistan (punctuated by another one today). Yet there is still official silence about a crucial…
Secrecy and Security: Guardian News vs. AB, CD
As summarised in an earlier post, last week the English Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) gave its decision in Guardian News and Media Ltd v AB and CD (“the Decision”). As…
British Appeals Court Denies Government’s Request to Hold Terrorism Trial in Secret
File this one away in the “what were they thinking” category. Today, the Guardian reports that a British appeals court has blocked an attempt by UK prosecutors to…
A(nother) Procedural Roadblock for Drone Casualty Reporting Requirements
Yesterday, efforts to bring greater transparency to the U.S. drone program hit a(nother) legislative procedural roadblock, as the House Rules Committee voted to not include an…
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…
Why Civil Libertarians and Drone Critics Should Support David Barron
Sen. Rand Paul has an op-ed in the New York Times today opposing the nomination of David J. Barron to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit until the memos Barron wrote…
Why Can’t We Even Say How Many We Have Killed?
On Monday, Just Security marked the ten-year anniversary of the disclosure of the Abu Ghraib scandal with a pair of eloquent posts by David Luban (Part 1 and Part 2). The Senate…
Drone Casualty Reporting Requirement Dropped from Intel Authorization Bill
Over the last several months, we’ve been following closely several legislative proposals in the House and Senate aimed at bringing greater transparency to the U.S. drone…
White House Makes Reassuring Noises On 0-Day Policy
Yesterday afternoon, the White House put out a statement describing its view of vulnerability disclosure: the contentious issue of whether and when government agencies should disclose…