Rendition case in S.F. to test Obama policies

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 2/9/9 | Bob Egelko

[SmithL]

The public is likely to get its first close look at the Obama administration's policies on torture, secrecy and prisoners' rights in a San Francisco courtroom today, when federal judges press a government lawyer for a position on the practice known as extraordinary rendition.

Five men - one now imprisoned in Egypt, one in Morocco, one at Guantanamo Bay and two who have been released without charges - are asking the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate a lawsuit that accuses a San Jose flight-planning company of helping the CIA transport them to overseas dungeons for interrogation and torture.

The suit against Jeppesen Dataplan, a Boeing Co. subsidiary, has never gone to trial. The Bush administration intervened and persuaded U.S. District Judge James Ware to dismiss the case in February 2008 on the grounds that allowing it to proceed could expose state secrets and harm national security.

The Justice Department has urged the appeals court to uphold Ware's ruling, saying that if the case goes to court, it could disclose ultra-sensitive information - the CIA's alleged relationship with a private company, its methods of holding and interrogating suspected terrorists, and the alleged cooperation of foreign governments. The department filed a supporting brief containing classified information under seal.

Obama's course unclear

But those arguments were made when George W. Bush was president. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the plaintiffs suing Jeppesen, is looking for President Obama to reverse course.

"The administration should unequivocally reject the Bush administration's abuse of the state secrets privilege and permit this case to go forward," said ACLU attorney Ben Wizner. "Victims of extraordinary rendition deserve their day in court."

Extraordinary rendition refers to the practice of abducting suspected criminals and terrorists without any extradition or legal proceedings, and taking them to foreign countries or CIA prisons...

[caseinpoint]

I predict he will cave. He will negotiate some kind of settlement with the terrorists as a “gesture of good will and changed attitude” to our Muslim “friends” and also avoid the tricky trial question. He will vote “present” as long as possible.