Sunday, May 15, 2011

Unprecedented: Obama admin. claims right to censor ‘unclassified’ materials

As part of a court case aiming to penalize a whistleblower. Their case against him is so thin that exposing all the relevant information would probably cause the case to collapse
In the case of former National Security Agency (NSA) executive Thomas A. Drake -- indicted last April and accused of funneling documents to an unnamed reporter at an unnamed newspaper, for stories that have not been identified -- the president's lawyers have made a unique and potentially unprecedented claim.

With less than a month before Drake's trial begins, the Obama administration has filed a memo with the court claiming the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) gives judges the right to censor and withhold material that is "unclassified."

The argument effectively hinges on earlier court cases which interpreted CIPA as less of a rulebook for judges and more of an advisory. The president's lawyers took that a bit further, suggesting it actually just "provides the tools" needed for the judiciary to decide what information should be protected from the prying eyes of defense attorneys. They also claim the National Security Agency Act of 1959 (NSAA) allows courts to redact any and all information pertaining to the NSA's activities.

In a document filed the following day (PDF), Drake's representation reacted with horror. "There is no authority for this unprecedented assertion in the context of a criminal case," they wrote.

"The National Security Agency Act of 1959 is a civil statute that does not address criminal prosecutions or the rights of a criminal defendant. The applicable statute is the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA). CIPA is the only statute that confers upon courts the authority to admit substitutions for relevant evidence in criminal cases. CIPA authorizes substitutions only for 'classified information,' not unclassified information."

Source

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems the Marxist-in-Chief, and all of the little Obamunists that surround him, would like to be able to censor anything and everything they don't like. I wonder what the conversation would be now if GWB had tried that?

The time for a 2nd American revolution is at hand...

Use the Name, Luke said...

This reminds me of another regime that used quasi-legal maneuverings to give their actions a veneer of respectability while actually violating the law and gathering power along the way to becoming a totalitarian state.

Anonymous said...

I guess that this "Open" administration meant they were planning to "open season" on their opponents. The left likes to brag about how good, kind and warm hearted they are and yet when they actually have any power abuse it in the worst ways.

The whole of the 20th Century is full of examples of how many people will lose their lives when they grant too much power to the left.

Anonymous said...

"This reminds me of another regime..."

Yeah, so do I. It was the Bush regime with his Patriot Act.

Anonymous said...

Patriot Act approved by Dems and extended under zerObama. didn't hurt any American one bit.

Anonymous said...

The Patriot Act was an overstepping of the bounds of good government by Bush and the Congress at the time.

Some of the worst parts of it have been allowed to expire but much more needs to go. Bush did many things right but the Patriot Act isn't one of them.

Anonymous said...

The Patriot Act was an overstepping of the bounds of good government by Bush and the Congress at the time.

Your opinion of what is "good government" is noted. However, the Patriot Act was not un-Constitutional.

Anonymous said...

"the Patriot Act was not un-Constitutional." ... yet.

Anonymous said...

This administrations actions are unprecedented? Not really. The same actions can be found in most Marxist regimes. What is truly unprecedented is the weakness and stuipdity of the American people for calmly tolerating it.

Anonymous said...

The American people tolerated Bush's excesses and see what we got? Obama. All administrations are power hungry.

Use the Name, Luke said...

Color me totally unsurprised that Anonymous 3:58 got the regime totally wrong. I fully expected his bias to show itself, and it did.

No. The regime I was talking about is one that actually succeeded in creating a totalitarian state. (Though Bush certainly did help things along in that direction.) Anon, care to make a non-biased guess this time?

Spurwing Plover said...

LENNIN,STALIN,MUSSOLINII,MAO,POL POT,HO CHI MIHN,FIDEL CASTRO,BARACK OBAMA

Anonymous said...

" Anon, care to make a non-biased guess this time?"

No.

The American said...

Spurwing Plover

LENNIN,STALIN,MUSSOLINII,MAO,POL POT,HO CHI MIHN,FIDEL CASTRO,BARACK OBAMA

Are these not the same names that I hear different obama officials say they love and admire?

Anonymous said...

"Are these not the same names that I hear different obama officials say they love and admire?"

Nope.

Spurwing Plover said...

Leftists actor RED ED ASNER is a big time stalin symathiser and leftist director OLIVER STONE is a big time admier of FIDEL CASTRO and HUGO CHAVEZ and stones movies are crap