

Former CIA agent tells a horror story: Possible misuse of state secret privilege - sagarun
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/former-cia-agent-tells-a-horror-story-84785

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btilly
The state secret privilege just begs to be abused by bureaucrats trying to
CYA. In fact the very first time it was used, it was quite likely abused! See
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Reynolds> for more.

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rdtsc
In general, how does suing the government work?

Isn't the judicial system a part of the government. Can't it just decide to
throw away the lawsuit anyway, even if there was no ready available "secrets"
excuse?

I know the lawsuits happen, but in theory how does it work?

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j_baker
The judicial system is independent of the executive branch. Judges are
appointed for life and cannot be removed save for doing something criminal.

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rdtsc
But how many cases there have been (and won) accusing the government of
torture, bad budget decisions, and others?

There is the Federal Tort Claims act in case a govt employee injures someone.
But that is very limited and a jury is not allowed to decide on the case.

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j_baker
I didn't say they always made the right decision, did I? However, the courts
don't usually agree with the government because they're part of the government
themselves.

