Supreme Court Rules Cold War Spies Cannot Sue CIA

[emad]

Wednesday, March 02, 2005 10:20 a.m. ET

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Husband and wife spies from the Cold War era cannot sue the CIA for reneging on promised lifetime pay in return for their espionage services, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

The high court in an opinion written by Chief Justice William Rehnquist ruled that the couple's lawsuit cannot proceed because courts are barred from reviewing claims that the CIA has wrongfully refused to pay for spying.

The Supreme Court cited as the basis for its ruling its 1875 decision that the heirs of William Lloyd could not sue to recover money promised by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861 for spying on Confederate troops during the Civil War.

"The possibility that a suit may proceed and an espionage relationship may be revealed ... is unacceptable," Rehnquist wrote in the 10-page opinion.

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=998247&tw=wn_wire_story

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. So the moral of this story is: If you're a spy & you want your identity

protected in this country, don't tell the CIA, tell a journalist.

[Sanity Claws]

2. Just shows you can't trust the government

Do you think this will help the country's dire need for better intelligence? Of course not.

[dArKeR]

3. American Christian Morality

[kskiska]

4. Supreme Court Rules Cold War Spies Cannot Sue CIA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Soviet-bloc couple recruited to spy for the CIA (news - web sites) cannot sue the agency for reneging on a promise of lifetime pay for their Cold War services, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) ruled on Wednesday.

(snip)

The Supreme Court cited as the basis for its ruling its 1875 decision that the heirs of William Lloyd could not sue to recover money promised by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861 for spying on Confederate troops during the Civil War.

(snip)

The ruling was a defeat for the couple who have been identified only by the pseudonyms John and Jane Doe. Former citizens of a Soviet-bloc nation, they defected to the United States and became U.S. citizens.

The couple said the CIA recruited them during the Cold War to spy after they expressed interest in defecting to the United States. The husband was a high-ranking diplomat.

They said they had been assured that if they spied the CIA would arrange for their eventual resettlement in the United States and ensure their financial and personal security for life. They said they carried out their end of the bargain, but the CIA reneged and abandoned them.

more…
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=3&u=/nm/20050302/ts_nm/court_spies_dc

[mike_c]

5. a word to the wise....

If a traitor is not exactly worthy of trust, then an agency which recruits and depends upon traitors is probably less deserving still.