Obama, Congress Prepare to Thwart ACLU Suit Over Abuse Photos

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Obama, Congress prepare to thwart ACLU suit over abuse photos

By Stephen C. Webster
Saturday, October 10th, 2009 -- 10:24 am

In the continuing legal battle over 21 photographs showing terror war prisoner abuse, the U.S. government has not seen much success arguing for nondisclosure in federal court. So, the Obama administration -- which once promised to make public this shameful chapter of the Bush administration -- has hatched a new strategy to keep the scenes of torture from being released.

"The Obama administration believes giving the imminent grant of authority over the release of such pictures to the defense secretary would short-circuit a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act," reported the Associated Press on Saturday.

It was with this new strategy in mind that the administration asked Supreme Court justices to stay their decision on the photos' release, allowing Congress time to vote on dictating the authority solely to the secretary of defense. The photos relate to abuse alleged to have taken place between 2001 and 2005 in Abu Ghraib and six other prisons. Some of the photos were said to depict rape and sexual abuse, though the Pentagon has denied this.

The measure is part of a Homeland Security appropriations bill that may be voted on in the coming week. The Supreme Court could rule on the photos as early as Tuesday, AP added.