Constitution Project Disappointed in Denial of El-Masri Petition
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2007
10:38 AM
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CONTACT: Constitution Project
Corey Owens
Communications Coordinator
(202) 580-6922
cowens@constitutionproject.org
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Constitution Project Disappointed in Denial of El-Masri Petition
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WASHINGTON - October 9 – Today the Constitution Project expressed its grave disappointment with the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case of Khaled El-Masri. Mr. El-Masri is a German citizen who was held by American agents for months, drugged, beaten, and tortured, apparently in violation of U.S. laws and treaties, and then abruptly deserted in a foreign country after federal officials realized they were holding the wrong man. His suit against the federal government was dismissed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year after the Justice Department claimed a hearing would reveal state secrets. Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union representing Mr. El-Masri had filed a petition seeking review of the case in the Supreme Court; that petition was denied earlier today.
"Today's decision by the Supreme Court not to hear Mr. El-Masri's case is profoundly disappointing," said Constitution Project senior counsel Sharon Bradford Franklin. "The government's treatment of Mr. El-Masri has been appalling and the executive branch should not be permitted to hide its mistakes behind the so-called state secrets privilege. Now that the Court has declined to consider this issue, Congress should immediately take up legislation to reform the state secrets privilege and clarify that it does not authorize unchecked power to disregard individual rights."
The Constitution Project, in an amicus curiae brief, had urged the Court to review Mr. El-Masri's case, noting that application of the state secrets privilege "without first subjecting the Government's claims to meaningful judicial scrutiny provides an all-too tempting invitation to Executive abuse." The Constitution Project was represented in this case by David M. Gossett and Brian M. Willen of Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw LLP.
The Constitution Project's Liberty and Security Committee and Coalition to Defend Checks and Balances previously urged reform of the privilege in "Reforming the State Secrets Privilege."
For more information on the Constitution Project, please visit http://www.constitutionproject.org.
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