Obama flops on secrecy

A few days ago in a San Francisco courtroom, the Obama administration faced a crucial early test — and, in the view of many liberal supporters, failed miserably.

Four alleged victims of the government’s “extraordinary rendition” program — each of whom says he was seized, flown to a foreign country and tortured at the behest of the U.S. government — were appealing the dismissal of their lawsuit against Jeppesen DataPlan Inc., the San Jose, Calif., company that they say helped organize the flights. Their case had been thrown out last year when the Bush administration invoked the “state secrets privilege,” arguing that the lawsuit couldn’t be allowed to proceed because it would require the disclosure of vitally sensitive classified information.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the Jeppesen case, hoped that the new, Obama-led Justice Department would appear at the hearing to say it was reversing position and dropping its call for dismissal. Instead, a government lawyer appeared and said that nothing had changed and that the federal court should not “play with fire” by allowing the case to go forward.

Why would the new administration do such a thing? Was it right or wrong? How should we think about the state secrets privilege? Below, a few questions and answers to put the debate in context.

Should we be surprised by the Obama administration’s position in the Jeppesen case? More