Haig v. Agee
| Haig v. Agee | |
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| Argued January 14, 1981 Decided June 29, 1981 |
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| Full case name | Haig, Secretary of State v. Philip Agee |
| Citations | 453 U.S. 280 (more)
101 S. Ct. 2766; 69 L. Ed. 2d 640; 1981 U.S. LEXIS 39; 49 U.S.L.W. 4869; 7 Media L. Rep. 1545
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| Holding | |
| The Passport Act of 1926 granted the Executive the power to revoke a passport when necessary for national security. Constitutional protections on due process right to travel are subordinate to national security and foreign policy considerations and subject to reasonable government regulation. Revocation of passport here acted as inhibition of action rather than inhibition of speech. Prerevocation hearings are not required in cases involving discernible adverse effects on the nation's security. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Burger, joined by Stewart, White, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist, Stevens |
| Concurrence | Blackmun |
| Dissent | Brennan, joined by Marshall |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. V, Passport Act of 1926 | |
Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280 (1981), was a United States Supreme Court case that upheld the right of the executive branch to revoke a citizen's passport for reasons of national security and the foreign policy interests of the U.S. under the Passport Act of 1926.
The case involved Congressional delegation of authority over control of passports and the right to international travel. Philip Agee was an ex-Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer living overseas who in 1974 declared a "campaign to fight the U.S. CIA wherever it is operating" and revealed the identities of several CIA officers resulting in violence against them. The Secretary of State revoked Agee's passport in 1979. Agee sued, alleging the secretary had no such authority, had denied him procedural due process rights, his substantive due process "liberty" right to travel under the Fifth Amendment, and had violated his First Amendment right to criticize government policies.
The district court found the Secretary lacked the power to revoke the passport and the court of appeals affirmed that decision. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court, holding that the broad discretion accorded the executive branch in matters of national security and foreign policy requires that the (currently codified at 22 U.S.C. § 211a et seq.) should be interpreted as granting the power to revoke a passport when necessary for national security.
Philip Agee, an American citizen, was employed by the Central Intelligence Agency from 1957 to 1968, holding key positions in the division of the Agency that is responsible for covert intelligence gathering in foreign countries. In 1974, Agee announced in London that he was launching a "campaign to fight the United States CIA wherever it is operating" and intended "to expose CIA officers and agents and to take the measures necessary to drive them out of the countries where they are operating." Agee and his collaborators repeatedly and publicly identified individuals and organizations in foreign countries as undercover CIA agents, employees, or sources. They divulged classified information, violated Agee's express contract not to make any public statements about Agency matters without prior clearance by the Agency, and prejudiced the ability of the United States to obtain intelligence. They were followed by episodes of violence against the persons and organizations identified.
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