When a B-29 bomber exploded over Georgia in 1948, the victims'
families were denied access to crucial information relating to the
accident because the federal government claimed such access would
endanger national security. When the Supreme Court upheld that
claim in "United States v. Reynolds" (1953), a new precedent was
established, allowing the executive branch to assert an
all-encompassing "state secret privilege" as a basis for
withholding information from public scrutiny.
For more than fifty years that decision has been viewed with
apprehension by a great many scholars and citizens, who feel it has
fostered a dangerous cult of secrecy and undermined accountability
by declaring that only the executive branch can be trusted with
sensitive material. Now Louis Fisher, America's leading authority
on separation of powers, recounts the story of Reynolds to reassess
its lasting impact on our society.
Taking us back to a time when Americans were preoccupied with
protecting military secrets from the Red Menace, Fisher shows how
this case produced fundamental distortions in the judicial process
that have increased with each passing year. He critiques the
government's arguments in Reynolds from district court to Supreme
Court and dissects the landmark opinion authored by Chief Justice
Fred Vinson. He also explains how Reynolds affected subsequent
battles over executive-held information both within the courts-the
Pentagon Papers, the Watergate tapes-and between Congress and the
president, as exemplified by the Freedom of Information Act and the
much-debated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Drawing upon
declassified documents and interviews with surviving family
members, he weaves a compelling story-one that took a new twist
when it was finally discovered that the information originally
withheld was not sensitive at all but rather revealed Air Force
negligence.
Especially in light of the Bush administration's continued use
of Reynolds to justify its post-9/11 claims to unilateral
authority, Fisher's work could not be more timely. His book is
essential reading for all who question presidential authority-and
should be required reading for all who don't.
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