Government defends "sparing" use of state secrets privilege in report classified for more than a year

07/24/12: Secrecy News reports a Justice Department report sent to Congress in 2011 defended the government’s use of the state secret’s privilege, saying it has been used “sparingly and appropriately.”  The eight-page report describes the features of the internal process for determining whether to assert the state secrets privilege in a particular case, including the standards and procedures for validating the use of the privilege.  “The Department has applied and will continue to apply these procedures faithfully in reviewing and defending the invocation of the privilege,” the report stated.  “While invocation of the privilege may result in the dismissal of some claims, the Department’s policy seeks to avoid that result whenever possible, consistent with national security interests.”  The report provides a summary of two cases in which the state secrets privilege was asserted.