Classified Information Procedures Act

The years in which the legislative revisions were made appear in bold text preceding the Public Laws that enacted them.

The links to the codification and the section notes may provide additional information about the legislative changes, as well.

[Source:  Added by section 1 of the Act of October 15, 1980 (Pub.

[Source:  Added by section 2 of the Act of October 15, 1980 (Pub.

[Source:  Added by section 3 of the Act of October 15, 1980 (Pub.

2029), effective October 15, 1980; as amended by section 1071(f) of title I of the Act of December 17, 2004 (Pub.

Coordination requirements relating to the prosecution of cases involving classified information

[Source:  Added by section 607 of title VI of the Act of December 27, 2000 (Pub.

2855), effective December 27, 2000; as amended by section 506(a)(8) of title V of the Act of March 9, 2006 (Pub.

2030), effective October 15, 1980; as amended by section 811(b)(3) of title VIII of the Act of November 27, 2002 (Pub.

2030), effective October 15, 1980; as amended by section 7020(g) of title VII of the Act of November 18, 1988 (Pub.

2031), effective October 15, 1980]The summary history of CIPA's codification through legislation:[1]

The primary purpose of CIPA was to limit the practice of graymail by criminal defendants in possession of sensitive government secrets.

"Graymail" refers to the threat by a criminal defendant to disclose classified information during the course of a trial.

The graymailing defendant essentially presented the government with a "dilemma": either allow disclosure of the classified information or dismiss the indictment.

[2][3] CIPA was not intended to infringe on a defendant's right to a fair trial or to change the existing rules of evidence in criminal procedure,[4] and largely codified the power of district courts to come to pragmatic accommodations of the government's secrecy interests with the traditional right of public access to criminal proceedings.

[citation needed] Courts, therefore, did not radically alter their practices with the passage of CIPA; instead, the Act simply made it clear that the measures courts already were taking under their inherent case-management powers were permissible.

[citation needed] CIPA, by its terms, covers only criminal cases.

CIPA only applies when classified information is involved, as defined in the Act's Section 1.