As with "extraordinary rendition," nobody knows the process, or the procedural safeguards against errors (if any) when the government decides to put a U.S. citizen on the "kill list" to be assassinated by drone strikes.
In a case where a plaintiff sought to challenge and remove his listing, the court has held that the government is protected by the "state secrets privilege" from disclosing even so much as whether the plaintiff has in fact been listed for assassination. As a practical matter, this makes it impossible for a citizen targeted by the government to do anything about it using the civil law. Also, as the court points out, the rights the targeted person would have had if actually charged with a crime are of no avail where the government simply marks the person for death without a trial.
This results suggests that the executive branch has a free way around the laws and constitution, to kill anyone it wants, for any reason, and that it need only claim that the purpose was serving national security in order for the courts to bow out and grant a pass. This seems quite dangerous to the notion of constitutional government, and also at odds with the reasoning of Marbury v. Madison.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-invokes-state-secrets-privilege-to-block-american-journalists-challenge-to-alleged-spot-on-drone-kill-list/ar-AAHMRMr
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