State UnSecret

The 9th circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Bush/Obama claim of unlimited state secrets power by the executive branch:

This sweeping characterization of "the very subject matter" has no logical limit--it would apply to suits by U.S. citizens, not just foreign nationals; and to secret conduct committed on U.S. soil, not just abroad. According to the government's theory, the Judiciary should effectively cordon off all secret government actions from judicial scrutiny, immunizing the CIA and its partners from the demands and limits of the law.