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Supreme Court Won’t Take Case on Torture Memos

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch worked on the torture policy at issue in the case during his time at the Department of Justice.

While an attorney at the Department of Justice during the Bush administration, Associate Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch worked on the torture and detention policy that was at the heart of the Senate investigation and report. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a lawsuit filed by the Americans Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). That lawsuit sought to make public the U.S. Senate’s full report on the Bush administration’s detention and torture program following 9/11.

The ACLU sued in 2013, demanding the CIA and Departments of Justice, State, and Defense release the entire 6,900 page report of the Senate’s investigation into the CIA’s use of waterboarding and other torture techniques. The report documents the abuse of dozens of prisoners and finds that CIA officials lied about the torture program to Congress, the White House, and the public.

While an attorney at the Department of Justice during the Bush administration, Associate Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch worked on the torture and detention policy that was at the heart of the Senate investigation and report. As an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court, Gorsuch conferenced with the other justices on whether to take the case.

Both the federal district court and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the ACLU’s lawsuit, ruling that the full torture report is a congressional record not subject to public disclosure laws. Monday’s decision by the Court affirms those rulings.

In December 2014, the Obama administration released the 524-page executive summary at the request of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, but the full report remains classified.