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Mark Ambinder:
A federal appeals court, ruling unanimously, told the federal government today that it could not assert the long-standing "state secrets privilege" to throw out entire civil cases before the discovery phase begins.
The ruling, in Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, the judges remanded the case back to a lower court and advised the government to delineate more specifically the information it wants kept secret -- but as evidence, not as a reason, in and of itself, to dismiss the case before it begins.
http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/04/appeals_court_limits_privilege_to_evidence_not_immunity.php
More here: http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_12245958?nclick_check=1&forced=true
Decision here: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2009/04/27/0815693.pdf
