Gavel Grab

The White House and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee may be headed for a showdown over legislation on the state secrets privilege, according to the Politics blog of Atlantic magazine.

The Committee recently passed a measure that gives federal judges the power to a final say on whether assertion of the privilege is legitimate. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (photo at right), a New York Democrat and chairman of a key subcommittee, said the legislation is based on the principle that the executive branch cannot be its own judge.

Before the Senate Judiciary Committee advances its version of the legislation, it wants to know the White House’s position. Privately, Obama administration officials say the president’s lawyers “are not likely to support any legislation that weakens the ability of the executive branch to determine what information constitutes a state secret and how to protect that information from disclosure,” Atlantic reported.

At times,  the federal government has used the state secrets privilege to shut down civil liberties cases. Nadler has blasted expansion of the privilege during President George W. Bush’s administration as “the greatest threat to liberty in this country.”

The Justice Department recently announced new  guidelines for evaluating state secrecy claims. To learn more, check out these earlier articles in Gavel Grab.  You can also find more resources from Justice at Stake’s Civil Liberties and National Security page.