nationalsecuritylaw proposed legislation: CIPA Reform and Improvement Act (Senator Cardin)

* Proposed Legislation: The CIPA Reform and Improvement Act (“CRIA”, S. 4050)

Senator Cardin has introduced a bill to update and reform CIPA. The full text is attached, as is a page from the Congressional Record containing the introductory comments explaining the bill. The key passage summarizing the bill’s aims:

“…I am introducing the CIPA Reform and Improvement Act, CRIA, of 2010. CRIA contains reforms and improvements to ensure that the statute maintains the proper balance between the protection of classified sources, methods and information, and a defendant’s constitutional rights. Among other things, this legislation, which includes the applicable changes that the Congress made when it enacted the Military Commissions Act of 2009, will codify, clarify, and unify Federal case law interpreting CIPA; ensure that all classified information, not just documents, will be governed by CIPA; ensure that prosecutors and defense attorneys will be able to fully inform trial courts about classified information issues; and will clarify that the civil state secrets privilege does not apply in criminal cases. CRIA will also ensure high-level DOJ approval before the government invokes its classified information privilege in criminal cases and will ensure that the Federal courts will order the disclosure and use of classified information when the disclosure and use meets the applicable legal standards. This legislation will also ensure timely appellate review of lower court CIPA decisions before the commencement of a trial, explicitly permit trial courts to adopt alternative procedures for the admission of classified information in accordance with a defendant’s fair trial and due process rights, and make technical fixes to ensure consistent use of terms throughout the statute.”

EAS10556 – CRIA FINAL.pdf

CREC-2010-12-20-pt1-PgS10816.pdf

By Robert M. Chesney

Robert M. Chesney is Charles I. Francis Professor in Law at UT-Austin School of Law. Chesney is a national security law specialist, with a particular interest in problems associated with terrorism. Professor Chesney recently served in the Justice Department in connection with the Detainee Policy Task Force created by Executive Order 13493. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, a senior editor for the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, an associate member of the Intelligence Science Board, a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the American Law Institute. Professor Chesney has published extensively on topics ranging from detention and prosecution in the counterterrorism context to the states secrets privilege. He served previously as chair of the Section on National Security Law of the Association of American Law Schools and as editor of the National Security Law Report (published by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security). His upcoming projects include two books under contract with Oxford University Press, one concerning the evolution of detention law and policy and the other examining the judicial role in national security affairs.

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