So reports the AP:The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Bush administration to explain the secrecy surrounding the detention of one of the immigrants arrested after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The administration has refused to release the names and other details of hundreds of foreigners rounded up after the attacks, arguing that a blanket secrecy policy is needed to protect national security.
One of those immigrants, known only as M.K.B., challenged his detention. But even that has been shrouded in secrecy.
His appeal has reached the Supreme Court, only there is little written evidence that his case exists. Lower courts sealed all the legal filings, as well as the records of how his case was handled. The proceedings were held in secret. . . .
The administration told justices last month that it did not plan to file a response to the appeal. In a brief notice released Tuesday, the court said it has told the administration to give its side anyway. . . . It takes just one Justice's vote to call for a response; and while the Court will always ask for a response before granting certiorari (i.e., agreeing to hear the case), I believe that most times that it calls for a response, it nonetheless ends up not granting (since it takes four votes, not just one, to grant). The odds are almost always against a grant of cert, even in a troubling case like this one. Still, I'm glad that someone out there is concerned about the case.
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Posted by Eugene Volokh to The Volokh Conspiracy at 11/4/2003 09:30:53 PM
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