Although infrequent, there are times when for legitimate reasons courts operate in secret. There are in camera inspections of documents and bench conferences every day. But what about a decision (an extensive written decision) in which there is no public release of the opinion? That appears to be what has happened in the DC Circuit according to Lawfare, a blog that covers the hard choices that courts confront when there are issues of national security. Here is the report:

D.C. Circuit Ruling in Latif, by Benjamin Wittes

The D.C. Circuit appears to have ruled in the case of Adnan Farhan Abd Al Latif (which Larkin previewed here, the briefs from which she posted here, the argument in which she and I covered here). Latif was granted the writ by Judge Henry Kennedy back in July of last year. I don’t have a lot of information at this stage. The opinion itself appears to be classified. The per curiam judgment reads as follows:

This cause came on to be heard on the record on appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and was argued by counsel. On consideration thereof, it is

ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the judgment of the District Court appealed from in this cause is hereby vacated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings, in accordance with the opinion of the court filed herein this date. A docket entry explains that there is a classified opinion consisting of a 53-page opinion for the court by Judge Janice Rogers Brown, a 14-page concurring opinion by Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, and a 45-page dissent by Judge David Tatel. The D.C. Circuit does not normally announce judgments before opinions have been redacted (the typical practice of the district court), but the volume of classified material in this case appears to have triggered a deviation from normal practice. The fact that this decision appears to have also triggered a merits dissent in a habeas disposition makes a very rare–and potentially very important–D.C. Circuit case.