USA/FILE: Federal court of appeals orders Justice Department to release memo about justification for targeted killing of people linked to terrorism in case brought by New York Times

Record ID: 184977

  • Title: USA/FILE: Federal court of appeals orders Justice Department to release memo about justification for targeted killing of people linked to terrorism in case brought by New York Times
  • Date: 21st April 2014
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 21, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF COURT DECISION IN "New York Times Co et al v. U.S. Department of Justice et al" EXTERIORS OF NEW YORK TIMES BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 6th May 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9JOIGZQAHFEXAYF6F9USORZ3M
  • Story Text: A federal appeals court on Monday (April 21) ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over key portions of a memorandum justifying the government's targeted killing of people linked to terrorism, including Americans.
    In a case pitting executive power against the public's right to know what its government does, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling preserving the secrecy of the legal rationale for the killings, such as the death of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen.
    Ruling for the New York Times, a unanimous three-judge panel said the government waived its right to secrecy by making repeated public statements justifying targeted killings.
    These included a Justice Department "white paper," as well as speeches or statements by officials like Attorney General Eric Holder and former Obama administration counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, endorsing the practice.
    The Times and two reporters, Charlie Savage and Scott Shane, sought the memorandum under the federal Freedom of Information Act, saying it authorized the targeting of al-Awlaki, a cleric who joined al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate and directed many attacks.

    "Whatever protection the legal analysis might once have had has been lost by virtue of public statements of public officials at the highest levels and official disclosure of the DOJ White Paper," Circuit Judge Jon Newman wrote for the appeals court panel in New York.
    He said it was no longer logical or plausible to argue that disclosing the legal analysis could jeopardize military plans, intelligence activities or foreign relations. The court redacted a portion of the memorandum on intelligence gathering.
    It is unclear whether the government will appeal, or when the memorandum might be made public.
    The Justice Department had no immediate comment.
    At the White House, spokesperson James Carney in response to questions about recent drone strikes in Yemen, reiterated President Barack Obama's speech in May of last year that outlined the rationale for American attacks.

    "Again, without speaking about specific operations, I can tell you that in May 2013, President Obama spoke at length about the policy and legal rationale for how the United States takes direct action against al Qaeda and its associated associated forces outside of areas of active hostilities, including with drone strikes," he said.

    "As the president made clear, we take extraordinary care to make sure that our counterterrorism actions are in accordance with all applicable domestic and international laws, and that they are consistent with U.S. values and policy."
    David McCraw, a lawyer for the Times, said the newspaper is delighted with the decision, saying it encourages public debate on an important foreign policy and national security issue.

    "The court reaffirmed a bedrock principle of democracy: The people do not have to accept blindly the government's assurances that it is operating within the bounds of the law; they get to see for themselves the legal justification that the government is working from," McCraw said in a statement.
    Monday's decision largely reversed a January 2013 ruling by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan.
    She ruled for the administration despite skepticism over its antiterrorism program, including whether it could unilaterally authorize killings outside a "hot" field of battle.

    "The Alice-in-Wonderland nature of this pronouncement is not lost on me," she wrote.
    Civil liberties groups have complained that the drone program, which deploys pilotless aircraft, lets the government kill Americans without constitutionally required due process.
    FOIA requests at issue in the 2nd Circuit case also focused on drone strikes that killed two other U.S. citizens: al-Awlaki's teenage son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, and Samir Khan, who was an editor of Inspire, an English-language al Qaeda magazine.
    McMahon ruled one month before the Justice Department released the white paper, which set out conditions to be met before lethal force in foreign countries against U.S. citizens could be used.
    In a March 5, 2012 speech at Northwestern University, Holder had said it was "entirely lawful" to target people with senior operational roles in al-Qaeda and associated forces.
    The Times has said the strategy of targeted killings had first been contemplated by the Bush administration, soon after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
    On April 4, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer in Washington dismissed a lawsuit against the U.S. government by the families of those killed in the drone strikes, saying senior officials cannot be personally liable for money damages "for conducting war."
    The American Civil Liberties Union supported the Times' appeal. It said that in light of Monday's decision, it plans in lower court proceedings to force the government to disclose other documents related to targeted killings.

    "This is a resounding rejection of the government's effort to use secrecy and selective disclosure to manipulate public opinion about the targeted killing program," ACLU Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer said in a statement.
    The case is New York Times Co et al v. U.S. Department of Justice et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 13-422, 13-445.
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