Claim of Privilege
A Mysterious Plane Crash, a Landmark Supreme Court Case, and the Rise of State Secrets
Barry Siegel
- On
- October
- 6,
- 1948,
- a
- U.S.
- Air
- Force
- B-29
- Superfortress
- crashed
- soon
- after
- takeoff,
- killing
- three
- civilian
- engineers
- and
- six
- crew
- members.
- In
- June
- 1949,
- the
- engineers'
- widows
- filed
- suit
- against
- the
- government,
- determined
- to
- find
- out
- what
- exactly
- had
- happened
- to
- their
- husbands
- and
- why
- the
- three
- civilians
- had
- been
- on
- board
- the
- airplane
- in
- the
- first
- place.
- But
- it
- was
- the
- dawn
- of
- the
- Cold
- War
- and
- the
- Air
- Force
- refused
- to
- hand
- over
- any
- documents,
- claiming
- they
- contained
- classified
- information.
- The
- legal
- battle
- ultimately
- reached
- the
- Supreme
- Court,
- which
- in
- 1953
- handed
- down
- a
- landmark
- decision
- that
- would,
- in
- later
- years,
- enable
- the
- government
- to
- conceal
- gross
- negligence
- and
- misconduct,
- block
- troublesome
- litigation,
- and
- detain
- criminal
- suspects
- without
- due-process
- protections.Claim
- of
- Privilege
- is
- a
- mesmerizing
- true
- account
- of
- a
- shameful
- incident
- and
- its
- lasting
- impact
- on
- our
- nation—the
- gripping
- story
- of
- a
- courageous
- fight
- to
- right
- a
- past
- wrong
- and
- a
- powerful
- indictment
- of
- governmental
- abuse
- in
- the
- name
- of
- national security.
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