Cite as: 595 U. S. ____ (2022)
13
Opinion of the Court
Government shows “a reasonable danger that compulsion
of the evidence” will expose information that “should not be
divulged” in “the interest of national security.” 345 U. S.,
at 10. Thus, the state secrets privilege, unlike §1806(f ),
may sometimes preclude even in camera, ex parte review of
the relevant evidence.
For those reasons, we conclude that Congress did not
eliminate, curtail, or modify the state secrets privilege
when it enacted §1806(f ).
III
We reiterate that today’s decision addresses only the narrow question whether §1806(f ) displaces the state secrets
privilege. Because we conclude that §1806(f ) does not have
that effect under either party’s interpretation of the statute,
we do not decide which interpretation is correct. Nor do we
decide whether the Government’s evidence is privileged or
whether the District Court was correct to dismiss respondents’ claims on the pleadings. According to respondents,
the state secrets privilege authorizes dismissal only where
the case concerns a Government contract or where the very
subject of the action is secret. See Brief for Respondents
23–34. The Government, by contrast, relies on lower court
cases permitting dismissal in other circumstances. See Reply Brief for Petitioners 19, n. 2 (citing cases). The Ninth
Circuit did not decide those questions, and we do not resolve
them here.
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*
*
The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit is reversed, and the case is remanded for
further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
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