No more secrets

last updated 8 January 2015

Cincinnati

A federal appeals court in Cincinnati has ruled that the Justice Department had no right to hold hundreds of secret deportation hearings for people caught in the Sept. 11 investigation. “Democracies die behind closed doors,” Judge Damon Keith wrote. The ruling was the first significant appellate challenge to the government’s legal tactics in the war on terrorism. The case involved a Muslim cleric in Michigan who was among 750 people rounded up and held for visa violations. Most have been released or deported, but as many as 81 remain in custody. Government lawyers said it was important to maintain secrecy to avoid embarrassing the detainees, and to keep details on investigations from terrorists. The Justice Department has not decided whether to appeal.