Is It a State Secret If Everyone Knows About It?

“The Supreme Court is considering Wednesday whether something that most everyone knows can still be a ‘state secret’ the government cannot be compelled to reveal,” the Washington Post reports.

“The case involves a request by a Guantánamo Bay terrorism suspect — mistakenly thought to be a leader of al-Qaeda — for more information about his CIA-sponsored torture. The government says it would threaten national security to have to confirm widespread reports that he was tortured at a secret detention site in Poland.”