AP reports ,
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.
That is unconstitutional, federal public defender Paul Rashkind of Miami argued in the case from Florida.
The Supreme Court should intervene, Rashkind wrote in an appeal, “to preserve and protect the public's common-law and First Amendment rights to know, but also to reinforce those rights in a time of increased national suspicion about the free flow of information and debate.”
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. There is no specific deadline for the reply.
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Hasn't shown up on the docket yet.
