* Ameziane v. Obama (D.C. Circ. Oct. 6, 2010)
The Circuit has released a panel opinion holding that Judge Huvelle erred by denying a government motion to treat certain information as “protected” (and hence not disclosable beyond the judge and the detainee’s counsel) in connection with a GTMO habeas proceeding. Details, including a link to the opinion and some extended commentary from me, are here. The long and short of it, though, is that the panel held that Judge Huvelle should not have insisted upon receiving an explanatory declaration that specified not just how disclosure of a particular category of information would be harmful but also how disclosure of such information in this particular instance would be, and also that she erred by not deferring to the executive branch’s assessment of the risk of harm once a proper explanation was offered.
