{ "id": "R41742", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R41742", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 587845, "date": "2016-08-31", "retrieved": "2020-01-02T15:25:06.205297", "title": "Protecting Classified Information and the Rights of Criminal Defendants: The Classified Information Procedures Act", "summary": "A criminal prosecution involving classified information may cause tension between the government\u2019s interest in protecting classified information and the criminal defendant\u2019s right to a constitutionally valid trial. In some cases, a defendant may threaten to disclose classified information in an effort to gain leverage. Concerns about this practice, referred to as \u201cgraymail,\u201d led the 96th Congress to enact the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) to provide uniform procedures for prosecutions involving classified information. Examples of recent cases implicating CIPA have arisen in the context of prosecutions against alleged terrorists, as well as prosecutions involving the unauthorized disclosure of classified information by former intelligence officials. \nCIPA provides procedures that permit a trial judge to rule on the relevance or admissibility of classified information in a secure setting. The Act requires a defendant to notify the prosecution and the court of any classified information that the defendant may seek to discover or disclose during trial. During the discovery phase, CIPA authorizes courts to issue protective orders limiting disclosure to members of the defense team that have obtained adequate security clearances and to permit the government to use unclassified redactions or summaries of classified information that the defendant would normally be entitled to receive.\nIf classified information is to be introduced at trial, the court may allow substitutes of classified information to be used, so long as they provide the defendant with substantially the same ability to present a defense and do not otherwise violate his constitutional rights. Among the rights that may be implicated by the application of CIPA in a criminal prosecution are the defendant\u2019s right to have a public trial, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, and to have the assistance of counsel. Application of CIPA may also be implicated by the obligation of the prosecution to provide the defendant, under Brady v. Maryland, with exculpatory information in its possession and the separate obligation to provide the defendant with government witnesses\u2019 prior written statements pursuant to the Jencks Act.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R41742", "sha1": "abc837b9d8823b74720dcad22d26bee7dd878d00", "filename": "files/20160831_R41742_abc837b9d8823b74720dcad22d26bee7dd878d00.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R41742", "sha1": "94a1274a945c72e0ee27d013f6dd97f572f6c3a8", "filename": "files/20160831_R41742_94a1274a945c72e0ee27d013f6dd97f572f6c3a8.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 406116, "date": "2012-04-02", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T00:10:36.715274", "title": "Protecting Classified Information and the Rights of Criminal Defendants: The Classified Information Procedures Act", "summary": "A criminal prosecution involving classified information may cause tension between the government\u2019s interest in protecting classified information and the criminal defendant\u2019s right to a constitutionally valid trial. In some cases, a defendant may threaten to disclose classified information in an effort to gain leverage. Concerns about this practice, referred to as \u201cgraymail,\u201d led the 96th Congress to enact the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) to provide uniform procedures for prosecutions involving classified information.\nThe Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) provides criminal procedures that permit a trial judge to rule on the relevance or admissibility of classified information in a secure setting. It requires a defendant to notify the prosecution and the court of any classified information that the defendant may seek to discover or disclose during trial. During the discovery phase, CIPA authorizes courts to issue protective orders limiting disclosure to members of the defense team that have obtained adequate security clearances, and to permit the government to use unclassified redactions or summaries of classified information that the defendant would normally be entitled to receive.\nIf classified information is to be introduced at trial, the court may allow substitutes of classified information to be used, so long as they provide the defendant with substantially the same ability to present a defense and do not otherwise violate his constitutional rights. Among the rights that may be implicated by the application of CIPA in a criminal prosecution are the defendant\u2019s right to have a public trial, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, and to have the assistance of counsel. CIPA may also be implicated by the obligation of the prosecution to provide the defendant, under Brady v. Maryland, with exculpatory information in its possession, and to provide the defendant with government witnesses\u2019 prior written statements pursuant to the Jencks Act.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R41742", "sha1": "eeec6781610bd03f4eeb47fe1de2680a2b844cea", "filename": "files/20120402_R41742_eeec6781610bd03f4eeb47fe1de2680a2b844cea.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R41742", "sha1": "6e24fda4c54bc3d054e753c7b8f08716eb3f9338", "filename": "files/20120402_R41742_6e24fda4c54bc3d054e753c7b8f08716eb3f9338.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc99046/", "id": "R41742_2011Mar31", "date": "2011-03-31", "retrieved": "2012-08-31T21:48:36", "title": "Protecting Classified Information and the Rights of Criminal Defendants: The Classified Information Procedures Act", "summary": "This report gives an overview of the Classified Information Procedures Act, enacted by the 96th Congress, which provides uniform procedures for prosecutions involving classified information. It provides a background of the act and discusses its various sections.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20110331_R41742_2162060fa5a85e3acf7772338a6e87de5d1a381b.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20110331_R41742_2162060fa5a85e3acf7772338a6e87de5d1a381b.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Criminal justice", "name": "Criminal justice" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Crime and criminals", "name": "Crime and criminals" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trials", "name": "Trials" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law", "name": "Law" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Criminal procedure", "name": "Criminal procedure" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Constitutional Questions" ] }