In a democracy, the public should have the right to know what the government is doing. Secrecy should be the rare exception, reserved for a few cases in which the national security is truly at stake. This book is the hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate that took place on February 13th 2008. While considering the state secrets privileges, assertions of the privilege by the executive branch were examined as well.The state secrets privilege is a common law evidentiary privilege that shields sensitive national security information from disclosure in litigation. The government is the only party that can assert the privilege, and application of the privilege can result in dismissal of civil litigation. The United States Senate, in this book, discuss the importance that courts act as an independent check on the government when it asserts the state secret privilege. It proposes a policy designed to promote a meaningful, independent review.

The state secrets privilege is a judicially created evidentiary privilege that allows the gov¿t. to resist court-ordered disclosure of info. during litigation, if there is a reasonable danger that such disclosure would harm the national security of the U.S. The Classified Info. Procedures Act provides pretrial procedures that permit a trial judge to rule on questions of admissibility involving classified info. before introduction of the evidence in open court. Contents of this report: (1) U.S. v. Reynolds: The Seminal Case: Asserting the Privilege; (2) Totten v. U.S.: The Special Case of Nonjusticiable Contracts for Espionage; (3) The Classified Info. Procedures Act and Secret Evidence in Criminal Litigation; and (4) Legislative Modification of the State Secrets Privilege.

The State Secrets Privilege is an evidentiary rule created by United States legal precedent. The court is asked to exclude evidence from a legal case based solely on an affidavit submitted by the government stating court proceedings might disclose sensitive information which might endanger national security and military secrets in particular as in the case of United States v. Reynolds, the first case that saw formal recognition of the privilege.

Examining the state secrets privilege: protecting national security while preserving accountability: hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Tenth Congress, second session, February 13, 2008.