US spies 'cannot sue government'

The court cited a ruling on paying spies dating back to Lincoln's era

Spies cannot take the US government to court for allegedly reneging on their contracts, the Supreme Court has said.

The court dismissed a case brought by two Cold War-era spies against the CIA, the US spy agency, over claims it failed to keep a deal on lifetime pay.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist said the risk that an espionage relationship be revealed in court was unacceptable.

The former Eastern bloc diplomat and his wife said the CIA had guaranteed a $27,000 (£14,100) annual wage for life.

Job lost

Identified only as John and Jane Doe, the couple agreed to spy for the CIA when they sought to defect to the US.

They were handed new identities and claimed they were promised personal and financial security for life when their spying ended.

The husband began a job at a bank, and the CIA stopped paying his salary when his regular earnings reached $27,000.

The possibility that a suit may proceed and an espionage relationship may be revealed... is unacceptable Chief Justice William Rehnquist

But when he lost his job in 1997 after a corporate merger, the CIA refused to pay out any further cash, prompting the couple to launch their case.

A federal judge and a US appeals court based in San Francisco had ruled that their lawsuit could go ahead.

But in a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court justices said former spies could not sue the US government because of the secret nature of their job.

The court cited as precedent a judgement dating back to 1875, which outlaws legal challenges aimed at recovering money promised for spying.

That ruling was issued after President Abraham Lincoln was accused of failing to keep a promise to pay a man named William Lloyd for spying on Confederate troops during the American Civil War.

'Graymail' risk

"The possibility that a suit may proceed and an espionage relationship may be revealed... is unacceptable," Mr Rehnquist said in a 10-page written opinion.

"Forcing the government to litigate these claims would also make it vulnerable to 'graymail', i.e. individual lawsuits brought to induce the CIA to settle a case (or prevent its filing) out of fear that any effort to litigate the action would reveal classified information that may undermine ongoing covert operations."

The justices also rejected the idea that the government should have to invoke state secrets privilege each time an individual tried to take the CIA to court.

The couple had said their case could be heard without exposing state secrets, and they had cleared their complaint with the CIA before filing a lawsuit.