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Federal Civil Procedure—Government May Intervene and Invoke State Secrets Privilege for Defendant Company that Allegedly Assisted CIA—Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., 614 F.3d 1070 (9th Cir. 2010)(en banc), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 2442 (2011)

The United States judiciary will defer to the executive branch on matters of foreign policy and national security when evaluating the need for secrecy.  The state secrets doctrine, a common-law evidentiary privilege, permits the government to bar the disclosure of...

Constitutional Law—Eighth Circuit Permits Broad Protective Sweep During Execution of Arrest Warrant Inside Suspect’s Home—United States v. Green, 560 F.3d 853 (8th Cir. 2009)

The Fourth Amendment’s proscription against unreasonable searches and seizures effectively limits the federal government’s power to invade an individual’s privacy.  Under certain circumstances, however, courts have deemed searches that protect a police officer or...