Dissatisfied with some element of U.S. foreign policy? Worried that a direct court challenge to it might not succeed, given judges' tendency to defer to the executive branch? Sue private actors instead:

The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of five men who say they were subjected to the government's extraordinary rendition program -- that they were kidnapped and sent to overseas prisons [in their home or other countries] where they were tortured. The suit was brought not against the U.S. government, but against a San Jose-based Boeing subsidiary called Jeppesen Dataplan, which was accused of participating in the flights.

The Bush administration said such a trial would result in the revelation of state secrets, and the Obama administration declined to rebuke that position, but a Ninth Circuit panel said the danger to state secrets had not been adequately demonstrated.

More: Obama clarifies administration's position.