Open Records Advocates Seek to Remove Exemptions to FOIA

Tom Curley, president and chief executive of The Associated Press, testified on behalf of the Sunshine in Government Initiative at a hearing regarding the Office of Government Information Services.  He noted there is still a "secrecy reflex" in place at many federal agencies, despite the Obama's new standards for government openness.   

Curley cited more than 240 statutes that agencies may use for denying FOIA requests.

Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) have introduced legislation in the Senate that would require any such exemptions to be clearly stated, rather than be buried in the legislation.  The legislation has passed the Senate twice but has not yet been considered by the House.

Get more information here.  Read Curley's testimony here.

Former information policy director provides insight on past, advice for future

ProPublica reporter Jennifer LaFleur interviewed Dan Metcalfe, who founded the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Information Policy and ran it for more than 25 years. Metcalfe says he has never witnessed a president pay so much attention to FOIA than Obama. Metcalfe advocates a "readily foreseeable harm" standard, which would require FOIA officers to release information that technically falls within an FOIA exemption unless it immediately occurs to them that disclosure could result in harm. He also suggests asking agencies to review "what they have been withholding from the public on that basic since 9/11 and to reconsider that in light of current conditions."

Dan Metcalfe directed the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Information Policy for more than 25 years. He founded the office in 1981, under the Reagan administration, and retired in 2007. During that time he drafted two seminal memos on FOIA. One during the Clinton years instructed government agencies to be more open and another in 2001 -- known as the "Ashcroft memorandum" -- that reversed that decision.

He now teaches law at American University and directs the Collaboration on Government Secrecy, the only academic center of its type at a law school.

More here.

S.D. Senate leader optimistic about open records bill

Sen. Dave Knudson is optimistic that his bill to create a presumption of openness concerning government records will pass through the Legislature, the AP reported. He's prepared for amendments. However, the South Dakota governor supports the opposite theory -- the presumption of closure unless the law dictates that a record must be public.

The sponsor of a bill declaring that most government records are open to the public says he’s optimistic he can shepherd the measure through the 2009 Legislature.

Sen. Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, will get a chance to explain his presumption of openness measure when the Senate State Affairs Committee holds a public hearing on SB147 Wednesday morning in the Capitol.

The Knudson bill takes the position that all government records are open to the public unless specifically closed by a state law.

More here.

Obama fails three early tests

Could his promise have been too good to be true?

The Obama administration, which vowed to usher in a "new era of openness in our country," either has delayed action on requests for access to government records or refused to disclose them in three early, high-profile tests of the pledge.

This week, Justice Department lawyers announced that they'd continue to assert the state secrets argument made by the Bush administration in a lawsuit alleging that five men were tortured abroad in U.S.-run prisons.

In a separate case, the Obama Justice Department has agreed with the Bush administration — at least initially — that the news media shouldn't have immediate access to court records in the ongoing Guantanamo detainee litigation.

More here.

Congrats to Indiana Coalition for Open Government

The Indiana Coalition for Open Government received the Frank O'Bannon Sunshine Award for its efforts, which have included publishing guidebooks, sponsoring conferences and studying the effectiveness of the state's public access counselor's office.

A citizen group that advocates for open government was honored Thursday for its efforts by Indiana's largest newspaper industry group.

The Indiana Coalition for Open Government received the Frank O'Bannon Sunshine Award during the Hoosier State Press Association's annual meeting and government conference.

Bill Nangle, executive editor of The Times of Munster, lauded ICOG's efforts for the public's right to know when nominating the nonprofit organization for the honor.

More here.

'Secrecy is for losers'

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter looks back at the history of White House secrecy as openness morphs from "geeky" to "hip." He calls for a mandate that all of the government's private sector contracts be made public, which he says will lead to competitors racing to "convince the government they can do the same things cheaper."

For a long time now, there's been too much secrecy in this city." Those were the most important words President Obama spoke on his first full day in office. Obama then signed executive orders to shift the balance back toward openness in government. At least in theory, the burden of proof will move from those who would release information to those who would classify it. It's significant Obama led off this way. He went right after not just George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, but an eternal bureaucratic impulse. Will Obama's emphasis on discipline and control eventually lead him to share that impulse? We'll see.

Thomas Jefferson argued that "information is the currency of democracy," and for generations peacetime America respected the principle. Believing, as Secretary of State Henry Stimson did, that "gentlemen don't read other gentlemen's mail," the nation chose not to even have an intelligence service until World War II. Then came the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 and the National Security Act of 1947, which essentially said that a certain constantly expanding category of information was "born classified." That means no formal process for assessing if something should be secret or not—just an officious bureaucrat with a big stamp.

More here.

More thoughts on Obama's orders for more openness

Ellen Miller, director of the Sunlight Foundation, told the Washington Post that "public information" should mean government data that is available online and easy to download. Miller suggested that agencies take stock of what information they maintain and how the data are distributed. What was slightly disconcerting to Miller was that Obama's memos and executive orders were not posted to the White House Web site by late Wednesday afternoon.

More of the Washington Post story here.

For additional coverage, see:

• Obama promises a more openness, Chicago Sun-Times: "Hot damn! This is astondishing. And wonderful," said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "You know there's a new sheriff in town."
• Obama orders could open records, Washington Post: Obama's new stance on open records could mean the disclosure of records that have been off limits to the public and reporters, such as details on toxic chemical spills and the drugs administered to Guantanamo Bay prisoners. However, Obama's memos don't discuss the labeling of documents as "controlled unclassified information."
• On day one, Obama overturns era of White House secrecy, Editor & Publisher: Rick Blum, coordinator of the Sunshine in Government Initiative said: “Yesterday’s policy of 'When in doubt, leave it out,' today became, 'When it doubt, let it out.' And this policy will help keep the public informed in our technology-driven, connected society. On open government, the dawn is breaking."
• President Obama's open government imperatives must trickle down to cities, MediaShift Idea Lab: Blogger Daniel X. O'Neil wrote: "To the mayors of every city in the United States, the message is clear: Nearly 67,000,000 people voted for Barack Obama on Election Day. Many of them are voting in your city, too. More than a million people went outside in Washington, DC to hear and see this President get inaugurated. Today, hundreds of thousands of them returned home to your cities, your neighborhoods, your tax bases. There's no reason to expect less of you than we've gotten from our President. Change is coming."
• Opening government on day one, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: "That this message was issued on Day One is a huge step toward opening access to the federal government. And it is crucial that this message came from the very top. However, the public will need to be no less diligent in utilizing the laws to request information and continuing to hold this new administration accountable just as any other."

What a bright Day One for open government!

"In the face of doubt, openness prevails," Obama wrote in a memo to the heads of executive departments and agencies concerning the FOIA. His bold Day One move to reinforce his promise to replace the atmosphere of secrecy with one of transparency made headlines across the country.

To download the memo, click here.

Read more on the Collaboration of Government Secrecy Web site here.

The Associated Press story is below:

In an attempt to deliver on pledges of a transparent government, Obama said he would change the way the federal government interprets the Freedom of Information Act. He said he was directing agencies that vet requests for information to err on the side of making information public — not to look for reasons to legally withhold it — an alteration to the traditional standard of evaluation.

Just because a government agency has the legal power to keep information private does not mean that it should, Obama said. Reporters and public-interest groups often make use of the law to explore how and why government decisions were made; they are often stymied as agencies claim legal exemptions to the law.

"For a long time now, there's been too much secrecy in this city," Obama said.

He said the orders he was issuing Wednesday will not "make government as honest and transparent as it needs to be" nor go as far as he would like.

"But these historic measures do mark the beginning of a new era of openness in our country," Obama said. "And I will, I hope, do something to make government trustworthy in the eyes of the American people, in the days and weeks, months and years to come."

More here.

Ask candidates about their open government stance before voting

Nice column from The Capital Times in Madison, Wis., with sample questions to ask election candidates:

Openness in government is critical to democracy. Wisconsin state law makes that clear in this high-minded preamble to the Wisconsin open meetings law:

"In recognition of the fact that a representative government of the American type is dependent upon an informed electorate, it is declared to be the policy of this state that the public is entitled to the fullest and most complete information regarding the affairs of government as it compatible with the conduct of governmental business."

How are we doing in real life? Not always so good.

That's why it's important, in an election year, to ask the candidates questions that help reveal their commitment to openness in government.

More here.

First Amendment Center to offer advice, education

Northeastern University's creation of the New England First Amendment Center is garnering much attention, which is not a surprise since news reports of government restricting access to information has increased significantly.

Northeastern University said Friday that it has created a research and advocacy center to increase access to public records, which have become increasingly shielded by government.

The New England First Amendment Center will offer citizens, journalists and public policy organizations information on access to government. The university-based center will have a hotline to advise people seeking public documents and will host seminars for journalists, municipal officials and lawmakers on public records and open meeting laws.

Walter Robinson, Northeastern's coordinator of the center, said the federal government has restricted access to more records since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

More here.

Visit the New England First Amendment Center Web site here.

Northeastern University establishes center to promote open government

From the Boston Herald:

Northeastern University has established a research and advocacy center to focus attention on increasing efforts by government to limit access to public records and meetings.

The "First Amendment Center of New England" will offer citizens, journalists and public policy organizations information on open access to government. The center, announced Friday, will also have a hotline to advise citizens seeking public documents and will host seminars on public records and open meeting laws.

The university-based center is a joint project of the New England First Amendment Coalition and Northeastern’s School of Journalism.

More here.

96% Support for Openness in Wisconsin...

In an editorial by the Wisconsin State Journal comes this little nugget:

If you think the public doesn’t care about open government laws — think again.

Virtually every Wisconsin resident — 96 percent — who responded to a recent survey expressed support for keeping government transparent and honest. In fact, Wisconsin citizens favored right-to-know laws more than any other proposal for making government work better.

The public made its views clear in 400 interviews recently conducted for the Midwest Democracy Network, an alliance of civic and political reform groups.

More here.