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Sunshine Week Events Re-cap
Monday, March 17: American University's Washington College of Law's Collaboration on Government Secrecy hosted its first Freedom of Information Day, featuring panels and speakers addressing new FOIA legislation, the state secrets privilege, and transparency. They also presented the first "Robert Vaughn FOIA Legend Award" to Thomas M. Susman, a government openness advocate and initial drafter of the 1974 FOIA Amendments. Tuesday, March 18: Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley discussed Freedom of Information and other open government issues during a Sunshine Week dinner event at The National Press Club. The speech looked ahead to priorities in the new administration, an update to Curley's 2004 Hays-Enterprise Lecture, which many view as a defining moment in moving forward efforts to preserve and protect access to information. The full text of Curley's speech can be found at the Sunshine Week website. Wednesday, March 19: OpenTheGovernment.org, among others, sponsored the 3rd annual Sunshine Week National Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy. This year's panel discussions focused on "Government Secrecy: Censoring Your Right to Know". The webcast is archived and will also be available soon at OpenTheGovernment.org and the event will be on a DVD available for purchase. They also compiled a list of legislation and resources about government secrecy and related issues. Continue reading
Lawrence Lessig Webcast: Change Congress
Just a reminder that Lawrence Lessig will lecture at the National Press Club on Thursday, March 20th at 1:30 pm. The lecture will also be available via webcast. Lessig will introduce a plan designed to increase congressional transparency, called "Change Congress". More information about Lessig and this event can be found at the Sunlight Foundation website. Continue reading
Keynote Speech from National FOI Day Conference
The First Amendment Center posted the full-text of the 2008 National FOI Day Conference's keynote speech, "A New Balancing Test: How Excessive Classification Undermines National Security" by J. William Leonard, former chief of the Information Security Oversight Office. Leonard quipped that his remarks on government secrecy would be his most candid, "a sort of ‘Leonard Unplugged’ if you will for those of you into the MTV scene". He discussed instances of excessive secrecy that produced serious consequences, including the decision to go to war in Iraq, stating, "Secrecy comes at a price - sometimes a deadly price - often through its impact upon the decision-making process". He also proposed a new way for government officials to determine whether information needs to be classified in the interest of national security; what he calls the "New Balancing Test": "We are long familiar with what many regard as the “traditional” balancing test of national security versus openness – of secrecy versus transparency. Instead, the balancing test of which I talk is more along the lines of national security versus national security; i.e. what will cause greater damage to national security, the disclosing or withholding of specific information". Continue reading
Sunshine Week Kick Off
Kicking off Sunshine Week, Senator Clinton answered the Sunshine Campaign Survey on open government. And according to the 2008 Sunshine Week survey, 3/4 of American Adults view the federal government as secretive. Did anyone happen to attend National FOI Day on Friday? I'll have to check back on their website for a summary of what occurred. Speakers included J. William Leonard and Tom Blanton. If you are in the D.C. area on Monday, March 17th, NARA is hosting a public meeting held by the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) to solicit public reaction to its recent Report, "Improving Declassification". Continue reading
“OPEN FOIA” Bill Introduced as Sunshine Week Nears
The Sunshine Week blog announced that Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator John Cornyn introduced the OPEN FOIA Act, which would add new transparency and accountability standards when Congress considers adding new FOIA exemptions to the law. According to Leahy's press release, "The exemptions to FOIA addressed in the OPEN FOIA Act, known as (b)(3) statutory exemptions, are typically buried in complex and lengthy legislative proposals, making it difficult for requestors to determine whether access to information is subject to FOIA. The OPEN FOIA Act would provide more transparency when Congress includes such exemptions in legislation". This new act follows the passage of the Leahy-Cornyn OPEN Government Act, which the President signed into law in December 2007. Continue reading
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