NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court says President Barack Obama’s administration must publicly disclose its legal justification for using drones to kill U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism overseas.
The ruling Monday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York came in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from two New York Times reporters and the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2011, they sought any documents in which Department of Justice lawyers had discussed the highly classified “targeted-killing” program.
The requests came after a drone strike in Yemen killed Anwar Al-Awlaki, an al-Qaida leader who had been born in the United States.
A lower court judge had said she had no authority to order them disclosed.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to phone and email message requests.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
