Open government advocates welcome new limits on information markings

from NFOIC.org and OpenTheGovernment.org:

(Washington, DC, November 4, 2010 )—Organizations working on government openness and accountability welcome the release of the Executive Order on Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) (PDF/16 KB). The Order rescinds the Bush Administration CUI memorandum, which was intended to create "a tiered system of designations and establish a framework for designating, marking, safeguarding, and disseminating designated information." Instead, the Order simply standardizes and limits the use of control markings on unclassified information.

Patrice McDermott, Director of the OpenTheGovernment.org coalition, said "The Bush policy and earlier drafts could have created a fourth level of classification. Instead, this Order is a victory for openness, for both our community and the Administration. We applaud the Administration for the time, effort, and thoughtful consideration of input from inside and outside government it took to make this the outcome."

Read the rest here.

AG urges new Ill. gov. to review previous FOIA denials

Attorney General Lisa Madigan has asked Gov. Pat Quinn to issue an executive order promoting compliance with the state's Freedom of Information Act. Her requests also include the creation of a point person on open meetings and records issues in each state agency and mandatory training for those individuals by her office. She also asked for a review of all open records denials made by the Blagojevich's administration since January 2003.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's removal from office signals a new direction for how open records issues are handled in state government.

But will it be more cooperation or antagonism? Attorney General Lisa Madigan wants new Gov. Pat Quinn to set a tone of openness right away.

Madigan sent Quinn a letter on his first day in office urging him to issue an executive order making open records access a priority. He should appoint special staffers to oversee records requests and review scores of denials by the Blagojevich administration to see if violations occurred, Madigan said.

More here.

ACLU tests whether Obama will keep his word

Now that President Obama has advised federal officials to process records requests with a presumption of the openness, the ACLU is trying to obtain at least 50 secret Justice Department memos which supposingly justify or provide details of interrogations or wire tapping. The McClatchy Washington Bureau site provides links to the request letter, a list of the missing memos and more on Obama's executive order. Click More Here below.

Dozens of secret documents justifying the Bush administration's spying and interrogation programs could see the light of day because of a new presidential directive.

The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Obama administration on Wednesday to release Justice Department memos that provided the legal underpinning for harsh interrogations, eavesdropping and secret prisons.

For years, the Bush administration refused to release them, citing national security, attorney-client privilege and the need to protect the government's deliberative process.

More here.