Supreme Court case United States v. Zubaydah

Thoughts on the Supreme Court case United States v. Zubaydah are that the court ruled incorrectly 7-2 in decision to the United States.

Zayn Husayn, also known as Abu Zubaydah, is a former associate of Osama bin Laden and was captured in Pakistan by US military and transported to Guantanamo Bay, but prior to arriving in Guantanamo Bay he was detailed at a CIA site in Poland.

Zubaydah alleges to have been tortured at that facility in Poland. Zubaydah’s request for discovery was initially granted by the Ninth Circuit US Court of appeals, however, it was overturned by the Supreme Court.

It was both Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Neil Gorsuch’s dissenting opinions that I felt made the most sense. Justice Kagan said it is both possible to use the State Secret Privilege to protect the location of the classified location in Poland while at the same time granting discovery into the enhanced interrogation techniques used as torture should not be allowed.

Meanwhile Justice Gorsuch’s dissenting opinion makes the best case in my opinion that given the fact that the alleged events took place twenty years ago and have been declassified already, not to mention those events have been the subject of various forms of media such as numerous books and movies. Due to the facts Justice Gorsuch lays out, it makes no sense to use any State Secret Privilege as there aren’t any secrets to be safeguarded.