Posted on Fri, May. 06, 2005
Court won't reinstate suit against FBI
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court
on Friday turned down a fired FBI contractor who was seeking to revive her
lawsuit against the government, saying state secrets could be exposed if it
went forward.
Sibel Edmonds,
32, said she will take her case to the Supreme Court.
Edmonds said
she was fired from her job as a wiretap translator because she told superiors
she suspected a co-worker was leaking information to targets of an ongoing FBI
probe.
The FBI said it
fired her because she committed security violations and disrupted the office.
In its
judgment, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit upheld a lower court ruling from last summer that Edmonds'
claims might expose government secrets that could damage national security.
Edmonds'
dismissal has attracted extraordinary attention, including a Justice Department
inspector general's report that was critical of the FBI's handling of the
matter and arguments by former Attorney General John Ashcroft that her lawsuit
could expose intelligence-gathering methods and disrupt diplomatic relations
with foreign governments.
Siding with the
government last year, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said he could not
fully explain his ruling because of the sensitive nature of the case.
Ann Beeson, an
American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who is representing Edmonds, said this
case was the first time that courts have gone along with the government's
secrecy claim to stop a lawsuit before it even responded to the allegations.
"This vast expansion of the privilege is something that clearly warrants
Supreme Court review," Beeson said.
The appellate
judges held a hearing in the case two weeks ago that they closed to the public
over the objections of Edmonds' lawyers. That challenge was supported by media
organizations including The Associated Press.
The Justice
Department's inspector general said Edmonds' allegations to her superiors about
a co-worker "raised serious concerns that, if true, could potentially have
extremely damaging consequences for the FBI."
The inspector
general concluded that the FBI did not adequately investigate the allegations
and that Edmonds was retaliated against for speaking out.