Obama DOJ Plans New Argument on Torture Photos

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Over objections from House liberals, President Barack Obama successfully pushed a bill through Congress earlier this month that allows the executive branch to unilaterally exempt photos of detainee abuse from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The law rendered moot an appeals court decision that would have forced the administration to release the photos. It was also an attempt to preempt a Supreme Court fight over the lower court’s ruling.

But the legal wrangling isn’t over. The Supreme Court must still decide whether to take up the matter. So both sides—the Obama Justice Department and the ACLU—have to hash out what the new law means for their respective arguments about the photos. It remains to be seen whether the government will still press forward with its appeal given the changed situation. On Thursday, Solicitor General Elena Kagan told the Supreme Court in a letter [PDF] that she plans to file a new brief that takes into account the new legislation, which President Obama signed that day. 

The immediate impact of Kagan’s letter is that the Supreme Court will probably postpone its decision, originally scheduled for today, on whether to take up the case. If it does eventually take up the case, it could conceivably rule that the government was right to withhold the photos under its original argument, rejected by the appeals court, that it could withhold any information that might put anyone, anywhere in danger. That decision would blow an even bigger hole in FOIA than the detainee photo legislation already has.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate