Senate panel advances state secrets bill

[maddezmom]

By LAURIE KELLMAN
The Associated Press
Thursday, April 24, 2008; 5:56 PM

WASHINGTON -- A Senate panel advanced a bill Thursday that would limit how and when a president can withhold evidence from courts considering lawsuits against some of his most controversial policies.

By 11-8, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill limiting the so-called "state secrets privilege," a frequent legal defense President Bush uses to withhold evidence from plaintiffs in suits challenging his anti-terrorism methods.

The bill is not expected to receive a final vote this year. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has signaled that Bush would veto it, and Republicans could deny supporters the votes to override.

The measure would set rules for asserting the privilege. Each time the government claims the privilege, it must submit an affidavit explaining why the information sought should remain secret. If the court agrees that certain evidence is privileged, it must order the government to produce unclassified or blacked-out versions of the sensitive information if doing so would not harm national security.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/24/AR2008042402781.html

[appleannie1]

1. If it is not voted on this year, there just might be enough people in the Senate

to override a veto.