State Secrets, Closed Courtrooms
Burgess, Susan, News Media and the Law
State secrets cases increasingly hinder journalists' ability to report on controversial court cases.
In a growing number of legal cases, courtroom doors are shutting out the public and press in the name of national security. The Bush administration has invoked the state secrets privilege in 23 cases since 2001, shuttering not just documents, but courtrooms, according to OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition that includes The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Between 1953 and 1976, the government invoked the privilege in only four cases.
The state secrets privilege, created by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1953 in U.S. v. Reynolds, allows the government to withhold or …
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Publication information:
Article title: State Secrets, Closed Courtrooms.
Contributors: Burgess, Susan - Author.
Magazine title: News Media and the Law.
Volume: 29.
Issue: 4
Publication date: Fall 2005.
Page number: 29+.
© Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Fall 2008.
Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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