sfgate.com
Bush administration lawyers on Tuesday cited national security concerns in urging a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit accusing an airplane company of illegally helping the CIA secretly fly terrorism suspects to overseas prisons to be tortured.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued Jeppesen Dataplan Inc. last year in San Jose federal court, accusing the Boeing Co. subsidiary of aiding the CIA in the "forced disappearance, torture and inhumane treatment" of five suspected terrorists in violation of national and international laws. The ACLU alleges that San Jose-based Jeppesen knowingly participated in the program by supplying aircraft, crews and logistical support to the CIA flights.
On Tuesday, Justice Department lawyers asked U.S. District Court Judge James Ware to immediately toss out the lawsuit without any further litigation because of unspecified national security risks.
In an earlier court filing, CIA Director Michael Hayden invoked the "state secrets privilege," which would let the CIA director bar evidence sensitive to national security from being used in court.
The judge appeared sympathetic to Hayden's position Tuesday, but declined to rule immediately. Ware said he would issue a written opinion soon.
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