So here's one question I come away with thinking about Judge John Bates' ruling dismissing the ACLU/CCR's lawsuit challenging the U.S.' authority to kill radical cleric and American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki. His dismissal of their standing claims rested in large part on al-Awlaki's public proclamations -- his indictments of the U.S. justice system, his writings in the AQAP magazine Inspire, and his exhortations for Muslims to kill Americans.
These public statements are also presumably the reason why the U.S. government is comfortable mentioning that he is present on one of these "kill lists." But the only reason we know he's present is because of his public statements. What happens if you're a U.S. citizen suspected of engaging in terrorism, and the U.S. government thinks it has the authority to kill you, but you have no idea because you've never been public enough for someone to leak your name to the press? And what happens if you are, in fact, not guilty, and if you knew about your presence on the list, you would, in fact, like to avail yourself of the U.S. court system, but you have no idea that you're even in trouble because the process by which the executive decides such things is completely secret?
