# How do the US federal courts deal with top secret documents in jury trials?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-us-federal-courts-deal-with-top-secret-documents-in-jury-trials/985288>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 10, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-us-federal-courts-deal-with-top-secret-documents-in-jury-trials/985288 "2023-06-10T13:54:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-us-federal-courts-deal-with-top-secret-documents-in-jury-trials/985288/1 "2023-06-10T13:54:09Z")

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Obviously Trump inspired, but I’ve got a criminal procedural question that I hope there is a factual answer to.

When the feds are charging someone with possession of classified documents (whether presidential classified or Energy Act (nuclear) classified, how do they handle the security issue in tandem with the proof issue?

Normally, when a document is evidence in a criminal case, the defence counsel are given access to the document, and if it’s used as evidence in court, it gets entered as an exhibit and is shown to the judge and jury; maybe even put on a display screen so the public can see it.

Obviously, if a document is “top secret”, doing all that would defeat the need to keep it secret.

So how do the federal lawyers enter their cases, balancing the accused’s rights and they jury’s duty to assess the facts, with the need to keep the document’s contents confidential?

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**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-us-federal-courts-deal-with-top-secret-documents-in-jury-trials/985288/2 "2023-06-10T14:36:23Z")

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This issue is touched on in an interview that the _New Yorker_’s Isaac Chotiner (who is a remarkably incisive interviewer) did with a national-security-law specialist.

> **[The Legal Dynamics of Trump’s Second Indictment](https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-legal-dynamics-of-trumps-second-indictment)**
>
> The case, which concerns the former President’s handling of classified documents, raises complicated questions about intent and national security.

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-us-federal-courts-deal-with-top-secret-documents-in-jury-trials/985288/3 "2023-06-10T15:01:35Z")

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> **[2054. Synopsis Of Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA)](https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-2054-synopsis-classified-information-procedures-act-cipa)**
>
> This is archived content from the U.S. Department of Justice website. The information here may be outdated and links may no longer function. Please contact webmaster@usdoj.gov if you have any questions about the archive site.

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-us-federal-courts-deal-with-top-secret-documents-in-jury-trials/985288/4 "2023-06-13T23:23:53Z")

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Interesting. Thank you both.