WASHINGTON, DC - April 3 - Today, in a letter delivered to Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), the Constitution Project urged Congress to reject the arguments made by Attorney General Mukasey in a March 31 letter that included a claim that he would urge President Bush to veto the State Secrets Protection Act. The bipartisan legislation, introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy and cosponsored by Leahy and Specter (the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, respectively), would guard sensitive national security information while simultaneously preserving Americans' right to a day in court. The bill is scheduled for markup by the Judiciary Committee this morning. 

"Attorney General Mukasey's claim that this bill would jeopardize the integrity of state secrets is patently false," said Sharon Bradford Franklin, senior counsel at the Constitution Project. "Congress should reject the scare tactics employed by the Department of Justice and provide relief to those whose pursuit of justice has been quashed by an unchecked claim of 'state secret'. The United State Congress has crafted legislation that would protect both our liberty and our security, and the American people should expect no less from their Attorney General or President."

The privilege has been used by federal government to prevent the disclosure of certain information in legal proceedings, even if no federal agency or employee is a party in the case.  Since September 11th, the executive branch has repeatedly asserted that this privilege prevents citizens from challenging federal policies - like the extraordinary rendition and torture of German citizen Khaled El-Masri and the warrantless NSA spying program - in court.

The Constitution Project's bipartisan Liberty and Security Committee previously issued a report calling for legislative reform of the privilege. The statement recognized that the government must have some ability to restrict the disclosure of sensitive information, but criticized the breadth of the assertions of the privilege, as well as the government's opposition to any review by a neutral judge.

The full "Reforming the State Secrets Privilege" report can be viewed at http://www.constitutionproject.org/pdf/Reforming_the_State_Secrets_Privilege_Statement.pdf. To learn more about the work of the Constitution Project's Liberty and Security Committee and the Coalition to Defend Checks and Balances, visit http://www.constitutionproject.org.

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