Posted on 11/27/2020 8:24:29 AM PST by Theoria
A U.S. Department of Justice lawyer argued Monday that the United States can kill its own citizens without judicial review when litigation would reveal state secrets.
The argument drew alarm among judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Courthouse News Service reports.
Judge Patricia Millett characterized the DOJ’s argument as giving the government the ability to “unilaterally decide to kill U.S. citizens,” according to coverage of the argument by Courthouse News Service. “Do you appreciate how extraordinary that proposition is?”
The government’s brief in the case supplies details of the lawsuit. The plaintiff, Bilal Abdul Kareem, is a U.S. citizen who works as a journalist in Syria for the “On the Ground Network” news channel, which provides access to the views of rebel fighters. The militants are linked to al-Qaida, according to Courthouse Service.
Kareem alleges that he was narrowly missed by five military strikes that he thinks were carried out by the U.S. military as a result of his inclusion on a kill list. He suggests that he was put on the list because of metadata from electronic devices, and he doesn’t meet the guidelines for inclusion.
The government sought to dismiss the case, invoking the state secrets privilege because Kareem sought discovery on whether he had been targeted, the process the government used to target him, and whether the United States had attempted to kill him. A federal judge agreed with the government.
In its appellate brief, the government argued that Kareem lacked standing because he makes an unsupported assertion about being targeted in a war zone. Even if he had standing, the government argued, the state secrets privilege forecloses litigation of his claim.
(Excerpt) Read more at abajournal.com ...
Seth Rich is happy to hear this.
This guy must be a Trump voter.
It actually happened overseas and he was on a military kill list.
Read the article.
It’s interesting.
Yes. I'm familiar with the history of the Gestapo and the NKVD, not to mention the Roman Empire, China under Mao Tse Tung, and Pol Pot's Cambodia.
“Kareem alleges that he was narrowly missed by five military strikes that he thinks were carried out by the U.S. military as a result of his inclusion on a kill list. He suggests that he was put on the list because of metadata from electronic devices, and he doesn’t meet the guidelines for inclusion.”
After watching what went down with Trump, it is not hard to see how Brennan might have pulled some shenanigans on people putting them on a kill list. Govt should be held accountable for their nefarious, dubious, and questionable practices. Btw, not saying Brennan was involved in this. Just saying someone who operates like Brennan should have some true oversight
And we may soon be more familiar with the demcommies, pantyfa, #bm and ‘aoc’s’ list of enemies of the left.
Does this mean the Clinton’s and Soetero and their ilk will be snuffed?
Not by us...
I hope we don’t joke about how other countries have a joke of a Constitution and where citizens have no real rights?
The US Constitution and the Bill of Rights are meaningless.
A run away government bureaucracy always looking to expand it’s budget, scope and powers, government secrecy (most of which is for self benefit and not actual protection of capabilities, sources, future operations, techniques and procedures), liberals looking to grow government to create their egalitarian and economic secure utopia, conservative wanting to grow government in the name of security from physical threats, the ignorant masses that do not care except for pop culture trash, what feels good or gives them 15 minutes of notoriety... here we are.
For the Republican voter, the George H. and George W. types... they are just as much at fault for this massive government and mess, the usurping of basic constitutional concepts as the worst liberal like an Obama. For the true Conservatives out there believing in the US Constitution and understanding that big government makes for a small citizen, take this as a warning. Never fall for it. The Founding Fathers were right: B. Franklin was right!!!
“Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
but “what if” by revealing the information the life of a valuable source is endangered, perhaps more and, perhaps an entire operation that could save even more lives is ended.
This actually happened during the revelations of the Senate’s Church Committee hearings a few years back. Because of their elephant in a china shop tactics lives were lost, valuable foreign intelligence contacts were lost. We have never recovered from those years.
I nominate the Clinton dynasty inclusive of Obama and his regime. Basically, anyone involved in the obamian death to America regime.
May be a very fast and slippery slope for thee and me and our ‘ilk’.
Of course the DOJ lawyer is sworn in under the US Constitution, raising the right hand to uphold and protect it from enemies foreign and domestic. Hahahaha
I’m sure the Dems consider their methods of “winning” elections to be state secrets. This, every pro-Trump/anti-Biden election lawsuit is, to them, “litigation involving state secrets.”
Not feeling too ‘ilky’ today. Maybe tomorrow.
Separation of powers - rather than reveal any secrets, the DOJ could simply either not contest the case, or in the most extreme measure I wish some POTUS would employ, not even go into court on it. To suggest that it can kill citizens just to “protect state secrets” is (1) Constitutionally silly and (2) suggests the state is willing to employ unnecessary steps to protect those “secrets” (of course the DOD/DOJ/FBI/CIA bureaucrats reveal secrets, anonymously, to “the press”, every day, even when there is no formal decision those secrets have become declassified).
“The plaintiff, Bilal Abdul Kareem, is a U.S. citizen who works as a journalist in Syria”
Probably not too smart to go to Syria, given what’s going on their (and that our government will be monitoring you).
What if the coverup of information is to protect the illegal operations of the U.S. government. Imagine a Biden admin were you're targeted for assassination because you were about to uncover a "source" facilitating the bribery of U.S. officials.
There might be a reason the framers of the Constitution didn't include provisions for secret courts or extrajudicial assassinations.
not a good precedent to set
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