Can the Government Hide Its Misdeeds as 'State Secrets'?

The terrorist attacks of September 11 and the government exploitation of them to expand civilian surveillance continue to cast a shadow over our civil liberties. Now the Supreme Court is considering whether officials can escape accountability for violating people's rights by claiming relevant information is too secret to be considered. The case, FBI v. Fazaga, involves surveillance of Muslim Americans in the years after the attacks, but it could determine the protections people will enjoy as the powers-that-be move on to finding other supposed domestic enemies in our midst.

As the...