SCOTUS feigns interest, but really can't get mind off of back 9
In a day of unreceptiveness, the Court seemed disinclined to let investors sue companies that were involved in securities fraud if they were not primary violators. I actually found this somewhat hard to believe. Basically there was a scheme that required the participation of a third party (sham transaction). The investors were trying to go after the third party as well as the defendant/company itself. Other than Ginsburg though, it doesn't seem the little guy had much of a chance. If you're really bored interested in a background of the case, take a look here
Elsewhere, the Court also declined to review a case against the C.I.A., that would have reopened the "state secrets" question in El-Masri v. U.S. (06-1613) as well looked into the agency's alleged "extraordinary rendition" program; where the CIA captures individuals and then ships them abroad to be interrogated and tortured so that they do not have to follow U.S. law or procedure. El-Masri alleged that he was kidnapped in Macedonia in 2003 and then taken to Afghanistan where he was held for months and tortured by his captors. El-Masri was released in 2004 after he says U.S. officials realized he was not involved with terrorism. The administration has never acknowledged El-Masri or his claims.
So if you get kidnapped and shipped off to a foreign land, tortured and then let go because it was all a mistake. TOUGH SHIT. As the government would like to keep it a secret that it might be engaged in activity prohibited by both US and international law, there will be no review. Shhhhhh. It's a secret.
This Court is starting to remind me of the Board of Supervisors at a gated retirement community.
