Veto Battle 30 Years Ago Set Freedom of Information Norms
According to declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive, Scalia, Rumsfeld, Cheney Opposed Open Government Bill 30 years ago. Veto Battle 30 Years Ago Set Freedom of Information Norms Edited by Dan Lopez, Thomas Blanton, Meredith Fuchs and Barbara Elias. Continue reading
Access to information sharply curtailed under Ashcroft
Shhh ... someone might hear you. By Alex Johnson, MSNBC Updated: 6:19 p.m. ET Nov. 18, 2004. On the occasion of Attorney General Ashcroft's resignation, MSNBC reviews his contempt for freedom of information. One particularly notable case was the redaction of almost half of a report on workplace diversity in Ashcroft's Justice Department. The redacted portions were uncovered, however. MSNBC notes: According to the Justice Department, these facts were too sensitive for Americans to read about:
- "Attorneys across demographic groups believe that the Justice Department is a good place to work."
- "The Department does face significant diversity issues."
- "The Department suffers from an inadequate human resources management infrastructure."
- "Section Chiefs are an extremely critical element of the Department's diversity climate. They have significant authority in recruitment, hiring, promotion, performance appraisal, case assignment and career development."
- "Minorities are significantly under-represented in management ranks."
Bureau of Reclamation commandeers two 61-year-old technical books on Shasta dam
According to a story in the Sacramento Bee (Sam Stanton, 11/21/04), The federal Bureau of Reclamation recently went to a used book store in Redding, CA to "collect two 61-year-old technical books on the dam that the bureau wants out of public view." This is a chapter in the Federal Government's continuing overzealous efforts to limit access to information out of obtuse security concerns. If this were a one-time happening, it could be ignored. However, there is a disturbing pattern of our government restricting the amount of information available to the public, recalling documents from federal depositories and restricting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Continue reading