From its inception the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was to “establish a general philosophy of full agency disclosure unless information is exempted under clearly delineated statutory language and to provide a court procedure by which citizens and the press may obtain information wrongfully withheld.”
However, FOIA’s guiding principle is currently being challenged by a rule proposed by the Justice Department that would amend FOIA to allow some federal agencies to falsely state that no records exist whenever they determine that requested documents fit within certain guidelines. This would authorize agencies to willfully deceive FOIA requesters on a case-by-case basis.
Such a rule not only negates FOIA’s principles, it hinders the process of judicial review, calls the Obama Administration’s transparency efforts into question and is, quite simply, unnecessary.
In an effort to prevent such a rule from becoming law, OpentheGovernment.org (which includes the National Security Archive), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sent a joint letter to the Justice Department expressing concerns regarding the proposed amendment.
The arguments presented to the Justice Department are as follows: (more…)
