Court Chucks CIA Rendition Case to Protect 'State Secrets'

A federal appeals court has dismissed a case brought on behalf of five people who are charging that they were tortured in secret CIA prisons abroad. The sharply divided court ruled that the case against Jeppesen Dataplan, a Boeing subsidiary which allegedly assisted the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program, should not proceed because of the risk of revealing state secrets, the New York Times reports.

“It should be a rare case when the state secrets doctrine leads to dismissal at the outset of a case,” Judge Raymond Fisher wrote. “This is one of those rare cases.” He described the case as "a painful conflict between human rights and national security," and suggested that the government should examine the case and award reparations to the plaintiffs if warranted. The ACLU vowed to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. (More Boeing stories.)