Update 9/24/04
Two FOIA developments:
1. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-CA, filed a “Restore Open Government Act” which would remedy several serious transparency issues. Despite that, his bill and a companion 80-page report, “Secrecy in the Bush Administration,” have not been reported. http://democrats.reform.house.gov/features/secrecy_report/index.asp Waxman’s bill, HR 5073, would revoke the infamous Ashcroft and Card memos and President Bush’s executive order revoking declassification of presidential records. It also puts a control on what may be voluntarily submitted as “critical infrastructure information,” mandates redaction of non-sensitive materials, and allows disclosure of identical information independently obtained by another agency. The act requires disclosure of data about advisory committees such as the Cheney Energy Task Force. And it provides anyone who must sue to obtain records can collect legal fees if they obtain the records in any way. Many agencies now force extensive, expensive litigation only to give up records prior to an anticipated unfavorable ruling to avoid paying legal fees.
2. Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, told the American Society of Access Professionals on Tuesday that “we must do more in the area of open government” and invited suggestions for legislative changes to improve FOIA. He said there’s a need for structural reform and for more resources and training to expedite FOIA requests. He raised the possibility of an ombudsman to mediate FOIA disputes but also supported legal fees to those who prevail in on information requests.
We need to take Sen. Cornyn up on his request for suggestions. CJOG will be gathering ideas to fashion into a media agenda of legislative concerns on open government. Please send me your thoughts and suggestions, not just on FOIA but any transparency issue that might be resolved through congressional action. We’ll be pulling together a small group to draft a formal response.
Two victories in the FOI fight:
The City of Chicago won its appeal seeking Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives records that trace the path of guns used in crimes. In an NRA-sponsored amendment tacked onto an appropriations bill, Congress had prohibited the bureau from spending to provide such records under FOIA. The city said it would pay for the information but ATF still balked. The Reporters Committee had filed a brief in the case.
The U.S. Marshals Service admitted it broke the law in seizing the recorders and erasing the tapes made by two reporters when Justice Antonin Scalia spoke in Hattisburg last April. The reporters will get ,000 in damages and the Justice Department will pay legal fees.
Briefly:
• The EPA’s Midwest regional director has issued an order gagging staffers. His memo prohibits employees from initiating any contact with a reporter or from responding to inquiries made by the members of the press. They can still talk to non-journalist citizens. The Denver office has a similar ban on responding to “potentially political” inquiries. We’re considering an appropriate response. Meanwhile, some news stories wouldn’t hurt.
• Two Democratic representatives, David Obey, Wisconsin, and Martin Olav Sabo, Minnessota, have asked the Government Accountability Office to review the use of the Sensitive Security Information designation. They believe the Department of Homeland Security is misapplying the statutory exemption from FOIA.
• We’re still gathering signatures on the statement of support for reporters cited for contempt in privilege cases. A bit shy of 3,600 right now. We plan one last push for names before asking publishers to provide public service ad space. No firm decision yet but we’re looking at publishing the ads sometime during the week of Oct. 11.
• The Reporters Committee has published its 5th update of Homefront Confidential, its white paper on how the war on terrorism is dampening the people’s right to know. http://www.rcfp.org/homefrontconfidential. Reporters Committee Executive Director Lucy Dalglish said that “even journalists will be astonished at the lengthy list of actions taken by public officials to turn basic government information into state secrets."
• RTNDA President Barbara Cochran and several TV news directors testified House Select Committee on Homeland Security about the role of broadcast media in keeping the public informed during national emergencies. She said growing secrecy makes it more difficult for journalists to do their job in informing the public when there is an emergency. http://www.rtnda.org/#
• Scott Armstrong, executive director of the Information Trust, also testified. Scott offered the most complete explanation of SHSI (Sensitive Homeland Security Information) we’ve seen. I’ve attached a copy. The media negotiators he refers to is a small group of Washington journalists that began meeting with Intelligence community representatives several years ago.
Pete Weitzel
