Obama Contends President Is Beyond Review: Asserts Powers More Sweeping Than Those Claimed by Bush

Summary

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Throughout his administration, President Bush invoked a little-known and less-understood doctrine called the State Secrets Privilege. The privilege allows the Executive to suppress evidence in a court case if, in the Executive's estimation, revealing that evidence in court would compromise national security. The use of the privilege is not unprecedented. Bush, however, didn't merely use the privilege to get evidence thrown out. He tried to have whole cases dismissed. (Please read "The State Secrets Privilege: Expanding Its Scope Through Government Misuse" by Carrie Newton Lyons from the Lewis & Clark Law Review for more information about the abuse of the State Secrets Privilege.)

In fact, [Obama]'s Justice Department has gone even further in asserting opacity when it comes to the State Secrets Privilege. On February 27, 2009, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Obama administration's arguments - which were a continuance of the Bush administrations arguments - that the State Secrets Privilege can be used to dismiss entire cases.

Obama is acting terribly like George W. Bush in his assertion of powers that are not his. It doesn't matter if Obama is a great guy, no one person - not even a "benevolent dictator" - can be invested with such broad powers. It's illegal, it's unconstitutional, and given Obama's background as a constitutional law scholar, he should know better. This is not the change I voted for.

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Obama Contends President Is Beyond Review: Asserts Powers More Sweeping Than Those Claimed by Bush

Throughout his administration, President Bush invoked a little-known and less-understood doctrine called the State Secrets Privilege. The privilege allows the Executive to suppress evidence in a court case if, in the Executive's estimation, r...

See the full content of this document

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