5 ex-captives seek to revive torture-flights suit

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(12-08) 17:27 PST WASHINGTON -- Five former U.S. captives who say they were tortured in overseas prisons have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive their lawsuit accusing a Bay Area flight-planning company of arranging their transportation for the CIA.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered the suit dismissed in September, agreeing with the Obama administration that the case could threaten national security.

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union, representing the plaintiffs, asked the high court to intervene.

"The government has misused the 'state secrets' privilege to deny justice to torture victims and to shield their torturers from liability," said ACLU lawyer Ben Wizner.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/08/BA571GNTDI.DTL

[Skink]

1. The Cowboys are having tryouts. So yes.

[struggle4progress]

2. SCOTUS wouldn't touch el-Masri's suit a few years back

This may help construct a record showing that the US lacks the will to deal with such cases, but the only hope I see for any justice would be to build much more international support for universal jurisdiction