PoliticsNEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, April 21, 2014, 11:54 AM
HO/AFP/Getty Images Al-Awlaki was killed in a drone strike on 2011. A court panel ruled that a White House memo on that strike must be released. <a class="a-enlarge" href="http://ift.tt/1rg0T2k;
A federal appeals court in New York has ruled that the Obama administration must release a memo providing legal justification for killing Yemeni-American preacher Anwar al-Awlaki in a 2011 drone attack in Yemen.
The decision Monday by a panel of three judges on the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a January decision by Manhattan Federal Judge Colleen McMahon in Freedom of Information Act lawsuits brought by The New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union.
McMahon had grudgingly ruled that the "white paper" on the drone slay should remain secret.
But about a month after her decision, the al-Awlaki memo in question was leaked to NBC News.
The 2nd Circuit panel ordered the disclosure of the document Monday, with some redactions, citing the leak and public statements about the memo made by senior American officials, including President Obama.
Muhammad ud-Deen via Wikipedia Yemeni-American preacher Anwar al-Awlaki seen here in Yemen October in October 2008. <a class="a-enlarge" href="http://ift.tt/1rg0T2k;
In a speech last spring, Obama “listed al-Awlaki's terrorist activities and acknowledged that he had 'authorized the strike that took him out,'" the 2nd Circuit panel wrote Monday.
In the Justice Department white paper, the Obama administration justified the killing of an American citizen as legal if the individual poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the U.S.
The memo identified al-Awlaki as a ranking Al Qaeda leader.
The Times and ACLU lawsuits didn't seek to challenge the lawfulness of drone attacks. They only sought documents.
dbeekman@nydailynews.com
Monday, April 21, 2014, 11:54 AM
A federal appeals court in New York has ruled that the Obama administration must release a memo providing legal justification for killing Yemeni-American preacher Anwar al-Awlaki in a 2011 drone attack in Yemen.
The decision Monday by a panel of three judges on the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a January decision by Manhattan Federal Judge Colleen McMahon in Freedom of Information Act lawsuits brought by The New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union.
McMahon had grudgingly ruled that the "white paper" on the drone slay should remain secret.
But about a month after her decision, the al-Awlaki memo in question was leaked to NBC News.
The 2nd Circuit panel ordered the disclosure of the document Monday, with some redactions, citing the leak and public statements about the memo made by senior American officials, including President Obama.
In a speech last spring, Obama “listed al-Awlaki's terrorist activities and acknowledged that he had 'authorized the strike that took him out,'" the 2nd Circuit panel wrote Monday.
In the Justice Department white paper, the Obama administration justified the killing of an American citizen as legal if the individual poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the U.S.
The memo identified al-Awlaki as a ranking Al Qaeda leader.
The Times and ACLU lawsuits didn't seek to challenge the lawfulness of drone attacks. They only sought documents.
dbeekman@nydailynews.com
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