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The FOI Advocate
Back to The FOI Advocate Index
Nov. 1, 2004
The E-Newsletter of the National Freedom of Information Coalition
"A government by secrecy benefits no one. It injures the people it seeks to serve; it damages its own integrity
and operation. It breeds distrust, dampens the fervor of its citizens and mocks their loyalty."
-- 110 Congressional Record 17, 087 (1964) (Statement of Senator Long)
A Publication of The Freedom of Information Center
A Unit of the Missouri School of Journalism
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men
born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to
liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding."
-- Justice Louis Brandeis, 1928
TOP OF THE NEWS
"If the documents are more of an embarrassment than a secret, the public
should know of our government's treatment of individuals captured and held
abroad. "
-- Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Federal District Court in Manhattan,
chastising the administration for its "glacial pace" and ordering the
Pentagon and other agencies to produce a list of all their documents on
the detentions at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by Oct. 15.
NO PROPAGANDA LEFT UNRUN: The Bush administration paid for rankings of newspaper coverage of the
No Child Left Behind law, a centerpiece of the president's domestic
agenda. Points are awarded for stories that say President Bush and the
Republican Party are strong on education, among other factors.
The news ratings also rank individual reporters on how they cover the law,
based on the points system set up by Ketchum, a public relations firm
hired by the government.
The Eductation Deparment has also promoted its education law with a video
that comes across as a news story but fails to make clear the reporter
involved was paid with taxpayer money.
The government used a similar approach this year in promoting the new
Medicare law and drew a rebuke from the investigative arm of Congress,
which found the videos amounted to propaganda in violation of federal law.
The documents and video emerged through a Freedom of Information Act
request by People for the American Way, a liberal group that contends the
department is spending public money on a political agenda. The group
sought details on a $700,000 contract Ketchum received in 2003 from the
Education Department.
Story Link
FOI AT WORK IN THE SUNSHINE STATE: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ignored advice to throw out a flawed felon voter
list before it went out to county election offices despite warnings from
state officials, according to a published report Saturday.
In a May 4 e-mail obtained by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Florida
Department of Law Enforcement computer expert Jeff Long told his boss that
a Department of State computer expert had told him ''that yesterday they
recommended to the Gov that they 'pull the plug''' on the voter database.
The e-mail said state election officials ''weren't comfortable with the
felon matching program they've got,'' but added, ''The Gov rejected their
suggestion to pull the plug, so they're 'going live' with it this
weekend.''
Long, who was responsible for giving elections officials his department's
felon database, confirmed the contents of the e-mail Friday to the
Herald-Tribune. He said he didn't remember the specifics, but that Paul
Craft, the Department of State's top computer expert, had told him about
the meeting with Bush.
Story Link
KEEPING AN EYE ON THE SPIES: Civil liberties groups and advocates of open government are alarmed at a
provision moving rapidly in Congress that would give a new national
intelligence director power to keep information secret to protect
intelligence "sources and methods."
The language, part of two intelligence reform bills being merged by
congressional negotiators, could lead to a major expansion of government
secrecy by increasing exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act,
critics say.
Under current law, the director of central intelligence has power to
exempt sensitive information from public disclosure by labeling it vital
to national security.
Story Link
ANTITERROR, IRAQ, ETC.
"The danger to political dissent is acute where the government attempts to
act under so vague a concept as the power to protect 'domestic security.'
Given the difficulty of defining the domestic security interest, the
danger of abuse in acting to protect that interest becomes apparent."
-- The ACLU quoting a 1972 United States Supreme Court opinion in United
States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Michigan, 407 U.S. 297 (1972), which re-emerged in the news recently after
Justice Department lawyers blacked it out in filings in a Patriot Act
case.
For the evidence, see:
www.thememoryhole.org/feds/justice_redaction.htm
IT'S ALL IN THE PLANS: City officials and developers of the Environmental Protection Agency's
new regional offices in downtown Denver are keeping the building's plans a
secret because of concerns about possible terrorist strikes.
Officials with the General Services Administration, which oversees
construction of federal buildings, insist that their decision to hide the
building's interior plans from public review is in the interest of safety.
They cite not only the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York but also the
1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Last week, Denver senior planner Kenneth Brewer referred to the federal
regulations in a memo distributed to city officials charged with reviewing
the building's plans and related documents. Brewer "strongly advised" city
employees to keep the information about the site, at the southwest corner
of 16th and Wynkoop streets, "in a safe location away from public view."
Story Link
THE NO-FLY LIST GROWS SECRETLY: Documents released Friday show that the government's no-fly list as of
Sept. 11, 2001, had only 16 names on it - fewer than the number of
terrorists who hijacked the four airliners that day. Several
investigations have criticized the government's failure to put two of the
hijackers on watch lists even after their terrorist ties became known.
The no-fly list grew drastically after the attacks, and one document in
Friday's material said the number of banned passengers ballooned to nearly
600 within about two months. Another 365 names were put on a secondary
list that allows them to board a plane after getting closer scrutiny. The
two lists had grown to about 1,000 names by December 2002, one document
showed.
The documents do not give a current total, but a law enforcement official,
speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday the names on the no-fly
and secondary flight lists total about 10,000, with the no-fly list
accounting for "a few thousand." Another government official corroborated
that account.
More than 300 pages of internal documents, turned over by the Justice
Department on Friday as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil
Liberties Union, provide a rare glimpse inside the workings of the
government's so-called no-fly list.
Story Link
NEW PRISON DOCUMENTS PAINT GRIM PICTURE: Government documents made public under FOIA provide fresh details about
allegations of abuse by guards at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and other
detention facilities in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They include incidents
in which a female prisoner was sexually humiliated by US military
intelligence officers and a male inmate was shot at to force cooperation.
The latest documents were released after a federal court directed the
Defense Department and other government agencies to comply with the ACLU's
request under the Freedom of Information Act for more details about
alleged prisoner torture and abuse.
''After more than a year of stonewalling, the government has finally
released some documents, though many are heavily redacted," said Amrit
Singh, an ACLU staff lawyer. ''Unfortunately, the government continues to
withhold records that would show who was ultimately responsible for the
systemic abuse of detainees."
A preliminary review of some of the newly released material showed one
case in which three US soldiers were each ordered detained for a month,
fined up to $750, and reduced in rank for an incident in October 2003 in
which a female Iraqi prisoner was partially stripped, abused, and
threatened with more physical harm.
Story Link
GENERAL FOI NEWS
LITIGATION UNDER FOIA BOOK NOW AVAILABLE: Litigation Under the Federal Open Government Laws, published by EPIC
and the James Madison Project, is the standard reference work covering all
aspects of the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Government
in the Sunshine Act, and the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Now in its
21st edition, the book is edited by Harry Hammitt of Access Reports and it
draws upon the expertise of practicing attorneys who are recognized
experts in the field. Appendixes include the text of the relevant acts,
and sample pleadings for litigators. A comprehensive guide, essential for
anyone interested in open access laws.
Story Link
FOI AT WORK: A former Dover Air Force Base commander says military officials used his
troops as guinea pigs in illegal medical experiments under the
government's controversial anthrax vaccination program.
After some of his troops in their 20s and 30s began developing arthritis,
neurological problems, memory loss and incapacitating migraine headaches,
Col. Felix Grieder took a drastic step. In 1999, he halted the vaccination
program in Dover, a move he said ended his military career. The decorated
Air Force colonel has spent the past five years trying to discover the
truth about the vaccine program in Dover, where he commanded 4,000 troops.
Dover is now ground zero in the controversy because troops there were
injected with anthrax vaccine containing squalene, a fat-like substance
that occurs naturally in the body. Squalene boosts a vaccine's effect, but
some scientists say injecting even trace amounts of it into the body can
cause serious illness.
Government officials have acknowledged that the Department of Defense
secretly tested squalene on human beings in Thailand. Grieder believes
they did the same in Dover.
Story Link
IN THE STATES
"Attached is a request for a FOI (freedom of information). The mayor said
to delay it as long as we can. My question is how much, if any,
information should we give them. Thank you."
-- a fax mistakenly sent to Peoria, Illinois City Hall by East Peoria's
city clerk.
PENN. JUDGE OPENS MALPRACTICE RECORDS: Doctors can't keep malpractice lawsuit settlements a secret anymore
because the public is footing the bill, a Lackawanna County judge has
ruled in a groundbreaking legal opinion.
''This is huge,'' said Dan Fee, spokesman for Pennsylvania Citizens for
Fairness, a consumer group that sides with lawyers against doctors on
malpractice issues. ''The judge has correctly said it's time to rip the
veil of secrecy off this issue.''
Common Pleas Judge Terrance R. Nealon refused to seal the settlement in
the case of an obstetrician-gynecologist sued for misdiagnosis in the case
of a Lackawanna County woman who subsequently died.
While the single-county case doesn't set a statewide precedent, the ruling
could set the stage for further court decisions to prohibit sealed
settlements in malpractice cases paid from a $230 million fund established
by the Legislature last year to benefit doctors complaining of high
insurance rates.
Story Link
TEXAS AG IN FAVOR OF INVESTMENT SUNSHINE: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has come out in favor of disclosure
of data concerning private investment funds.
"Texans should not be shielded from information. ... I have decided to
defend the public's right to know, and I have told the [officials at]
UTIMCO that a line should drawn, and we are drawing that line in the face
of openness," Abbott told the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas
on Friday during an Austin luncheon.
UTIMCO is the Austin-based University of Texas Investment Management Co.,
which oversees about $16 billion worth of investments for the UT and Texas
A&M systems.
Abbott declined to be more specific, other than saying he was drawing "a
line in the sand along the beachfront of open government," and saying he
would continue to defend a lawsuit filed against him in August by the
Texas Growth Fund and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, both based
in Austin.
Story Link
THE FOUNDATION STRIKES BACK: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: In a move akin to a pre-emptive strike, the University of Colorado
Foundation has filed suit against a Boulder newspaper after denied
requests for information led the newspaper to threaten the foundation with
legal action. The suit, filed Sept. 22 against the Boulder Daily Camera,
seeks clarification from a state district court that the
foundation's records are not subject to the Colorado Open Records Act.
The foundation contends that because it is independent, non-public and
separate from the University of Colorado, its records are not subject to
public disclosure. But the Camera said the foundation's affiliation with
the University of Colorado makes it subject to open record laws.
"[The CU foundation] interacts in a very intertwined way with the
university," said David Giles, attorney for the Daily Camera.
Story Link
BALLOTS? FILE 13... The clerk in Alexander County said she destroyed all of the ballots from
the 2002 election shortly before she received a Freedom of Information Act
request to allow examination of several hundred questionable votes.
Gloria Patton said she could not honor the Freedom of Information Act
request filed Sept. 7 by Scripps Howard News Service to produce 3,451
punch-card ballots cast in the Nov. 5, 2002, gubernatorial election. The
wire service is investigating ballots cast in Alexander County that did
not register votes for the offices of governor, U.S. senator and Illinois
attorney general.
"We removed everything," Patton said Thursday.
Patton said the ballots were discarded from her storage room in the
Alexander County Courthouse in late August to "clean up back here because
they were going to do air conditioning in here." She said ballots from
elections held in 1999, 2001 and 2002 were discarded at that time.
Story Link
S.C. WAL-MART GROUP SEEKS RECORDS: The group opposing a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Tega Cay say it believes
the city hasn't given it all the information it has asked for under state
public records laws.
City Manager Grant Duffield says he has handed over the pertinent records.
Five members of the anti-Wal-Mart Us Against the Wal group gave Duffield
on Monday another list of requested documents, including all documents and
correspondence between the city and Wal-Mart and all Stonecrest
Development records about the plan.
The controversial Wal-Mart is proposed to go inside Stonecrest
Development, a 122-acre commercial and residential development close to
the intersection of Gold Hill Road and S.C. 160. Wal-Mart would be near
the intersection of Dam Road and S.C. 160.
One of the group's leaders said she thinks there's more information out
there than the city has given the group.
Story Link
ACCESS TO POLLS TOUGH IN MINNESOTA: In an election when polling places are expected to be hotbeds of
contested votes and challenged registrations, a new Minnesota law will
limit how much newspapers and television stations can report on what's
going on inside.
The law, described as one of the most restrictive in the nation by some
experts, requires journalists to get letters of prior approval to be in a
polling site, where they can remain for a maximum of 15 minutes.
The situation has become confusing enough that Cass County requested an
opinion from the Minnesota attorney general's office late Tuesday on how
to administer the law.
Reporters and photographers will be required to have a letter from city
election clerks or county auditors giving them permission to enter
specific polling places.
Some media outlets are finding the law troublesome in their planning for
election-night coverage.
Story Link
NEW STUDY ON PRICING IN WASHINGTON: Access to court records in Washington state, including the cost of
photocopies and online availability, varies widely from county to county,
according to a study conducted by AccessNorthwest at Washington State
University.
A 25-page document might cost a reporter $2.50 in one county but $25 in a
neighboring county, and it can take up to three days to get a copy of a
court record in some counties.
The survey of all 39 county clerks in the state was conducted on the eve
of a significant expansion in public access to court records as the state
Supreme Court allowed county clerks to begin providing the public and
press online access to court documents. On Oct. 6, the Court adopted
General Rule 31. Several counties have started providing Internet access
to court records, and according to the study about two-thirds of the
clerks plan to provide information online within a year.
Story Link
WHAT'S ON THAT CAMERA? A University of Texas student's curiosity has caused the state attorney
general's office to sue itself.
On Aug. 4, the University of Texas at Austin filed a lawsuit to block an
order from the state attorney general to release records regarding Web
cameras in university classrooms. As the state's legal representative, the
attorney general's office will litigate both sides of the case.
UT sophomore Mark Miller filed an information request on April 13 for
information on the Web cameras monitoring his classroom. School officials
told Miller they would ask Attorney General Greg Abbott to determine if
the records are subject to public disclosure. But because the university
missed a court filing date, the attorney general ordered the release of
the information in July, according to court documents.
Miller's interest began after he noticed the Web cameras in his
classrooms. After his questions to school faculty went unanswered, he
submitted an information request to school officials for any available
information about the cameras.
Story Link
MIXING PUBLIC, PRIVATE: New investors are waiting to bail out the troubled venture, and the
ferry company is negotiating a new business plan with its lenders. But
public hope is mingled with distrust.
"I really hope it is a big success, but the way they are handling things,
I have my doubts," said Tim Constas, 54, a Henrietta resident who's among
the many local citizens avidly following the ferry's struggles.
Like many citizens, Constas said he just doesn't trust the private company
that brought the ferry to Rochester this summer.
Canadian American Transportation Systems fumbled through its startup and
abruptly shut down the ferry Sept. 8 after only 80 days in service because
of money problems. On top of that, the company hasn't been forthcoming
enough with the public about the difficulties or its finances, said
Constas, despite about $36 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars being invested
in the project.
This scenario sets up a complex debate over how much a private company
must disclose when receiving public money.
Story Link
GAGGING THE COPS: The San Francisco Police Department is moving to restrict what its
investigators can tell reporters about cases as part of proposed policy
changes before the Police Commission.
For years, department policy has encouraged inspectors to talk to the
media about their cases, on the theory that they know more about the
crimes they're investigating than anyone else in the department. No
inspectors are required to get permission from higher-ups to speak to
reporters.
The proposed new policy, however, specifies that "disclosure of
investigative information to the media is not appropriate.'' It also
mandates that all media requests for information be referred to the
department's public affairs office and that any comments be approved by a
supervisor.
The policy will go before the Police Commission tonight. The commission
could vote on it at a later date.
The proposal, drawn up by acting Capt. Charles Keohane in the department's
legal division, warns inspectors that talking to reporters without getting
clearance "could affect due process, privacy rights of individuals and
sensitive investigative techniques.''
Story Link
IN CALI, A BATTLE OVER CONSTITUTIONAL ACCESS RIGHTS: Even the attorney who wrote the ballot argument against Proposition 59,
the constitutional amendment that would guarantee public access to
government meetings and documents, doesn't really have his heart in the
fight.
"It's got a lot of good provisions in it," said Gary Wesley, a Mountain
View lawyer whose main reservation is that the measure doesn't go far
enough. "I wouldn't say I'm an opponent."
There don't appear to be many of those. The Legislature put the Sunshine
Amendment, as supporters like to call it, on the ballot without a single
"no" vote.
Supporters say a poll they commissioned in the late 1990s showed that
two-thirds of voters supported putting an even stronger version in the
state constitution.
For several decades, state laws have provided for access to government
meetings and records - most notably, the Ralph M. Brown Act and the Public
Records Act.
The problem, Proposition 59 supporters say, is that the courts have
whittled away at these statutes. In 1991, for instance, the state Supreme
Court ruled that then-Gov. George Deukmejian did not have to release five
years of information from his appointments calendar. The court found that
the release of the calendar would interfere with Deukmejian's ability to
deliberate on public policy.
Story Link
FOI AT WORK: WATCH THAT SQUAD CAR! A review of car crashes involving police shows officers are rarely, if
ever, found at fault when they get in accidents. If someone is blamed, it
is almost always a civilian.
During a five-year period ending in February, there were 235 accidents
involving police vehicles. Police faulted themselves six times. Civilian
drivers were faulted 92 times and no fault was found in the remaining 137
crashes.
This means a civilian who gets into an accident with a police officer in
Stamford has a 55.4 percent chance of being found at fault. The officer's
chance is 3 percent -- and his chance of being disciplined is virtually
nil.
These findings were discovered in a review by The Advocate of more than
five years' worth of police reports on motor vehicle accidents involving
officers.
Story Link
GIS CASE WORTH WATCHING: Few people were paying attention in December 2001, when Greenwich
resident Stephen Whitaker first requested access to a town database.
But now, with the case about to come before the state Supreme Court, it is
attracting a lot of attention from journalists, academics and Freedom of
Information groups nationwide, who say the case raises unique issues that
lie at the fault line of open government and post-9/11 security.
On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court granted a motion on behalf of three
groups -- The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Society of
Environmental Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. --
allowing them to file a friend of the court brief on behalf of the state
Freedom of Information Commission.
Story Link
HOOSIERS AUDIT AGAIN: In 1997, Indiana newspapers were the first to perform a public records
audit. To gauge change over those seven years, they did it again last
summer.
Eight newspapers, including The Journal Gazette, sent representatives to
public agencies in all 92 counties to ask for records. Reporters again
surveyed county sheriffs, the worst offenders last time, and added county
auditors and court clerks to the mix. Although there was some improvement,
sheriff officials were again the least likely to comply.
Story Link
FOI AT WORK: Precinct 4 Constable Charles Wilson said Wednesday he will continue to
withhold public records used to support his political advertising claims,
saying he will await input from the Texas attorney general before
releasing anything.
His refusal comes in response to an Open Records request made Oct. 20 by
the Tyler Morning Telegraph under the Texas Public Information Act after Wilson ran quarter-page ads
in October that featured different statistics than those cited by his
opponent.
Citing county records, Wilson's opponent, Dale D. Geddie, reported Wilson
made 12 arrests between 2001 and 2003.
Wilson, a Democrat, discounted Geddie's figures, saying the records were
incomplete and his arrest totals were actually 471.
The discrepancy prompted the newspaper to submit a written request to view
Wilson's documentation after he refused to produce records supporting his
political claims.
Story Link
OPEN THAT AGREEMENT: Former Wood Dale City Manager Brad Townsend hasn't been idle since his
Sept. 16 resignation ended his nine-year tenure with the city.
Speaking Wednesday, moments after city officials released the contents of
a previously confidential separation agreement, Townsend said he has no
regrets resigning and is busy developing a new private consulting
business. City Attorney Patrick Bond released the document Wednesday after
having previously denied a Freedom of Information request and an appeal
from the Daily Herald.
The Illinois attorney general's office had intervened and indicated the
contract should be made public.
Public-sector employee contracts are typically considered open records
that can be viewed by anyone who requests them. Bond had said the
agreement was offered to Townsend "on the basis that it remains
confidential in nature."
Assistant Attorney General Terry Mutchler confirmed public bodies are not
allowed to enter into private contracts.
"The purpose of the Freedom of Information Act would be severely
frustrated if public bodies could simply agree to keep confidential any
public record that they did not want released to the public, no matter how
kind the motive," Mutchler said.
Story Link
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
MEXICO OPENING UP: A decade ago, Sergio Aguayo asked a simple question. How much does the
Mexican president make? The answer he got was equally simple: none of your
business.
So Mr. Aguayo, a writer and democracy activist, pressured President
Ernesto Zedillo through the courts and the media. Eventually, the
president's office released the number ? about $200,000 in base salary per
year.
Still, nothing had really changed. The president's salary remained
technically classified, as was a legal "secret fund" that had contained
hundreds of millions of dollars under earlier presidents, Mr. Aguayo said.
Where that money went, no one knows.
What a difference a decade makes.
A dynamic mix of greater democracy, Internet access and a new federal
freedom of information law is causing a huge shift in how Mexicans police
a government that until recently coveted even trivial information with the
jealousy of a Soviet-style dictatorship, analysts and officials said.
Story Link
PAKISTANIS WAIT FOR IMPLEMENTATION: Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002, promulgated two years ago to
ensure transparency in public sector by facilitating an easy access to
information, has not been implemented yet. The law was drafted in line
with the Article 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan and article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The media has accused the government of not ensuring a prompt
implementation of the freedom of information ordinance. Their requests for
making amendments in the ordinance have been ignored by the government.
The ordinance suggested all the acts and subordinate legislation such as
rules and regulations, notifications, by-laws, manuals and orders should
be published and made available at a reasonable price at a number of
outlets.
"The purpose of the said ordinance was to ensure citizen's access to
public records and to make the federal government more accountable to its
citizens but unfortunately nothing has turned around," Justice Tariq
Mahmood (R), the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association said.
"Such a legislation serves best in a civilized society. Our case is
different. Either we make laws to violate or not to implement them at all;
and this is our national tragedy," he added. Afrasiab Khattak, former
chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said, "In our country
there is a tradition of hiding information and no legislation can break
this authoritative convention."
Story Link
SLOVAKS TO PUT PROPERTY RECORDS ONLINE: Information on the property of public officials in Slovakia will be
published on the Internet as of the beginning of October.
Under the new law which will take effect on October 1, not only all
Slovak politicians beginning with the president and ending by regional
officials and municipalities' mayors but also Constitutional Court judges,
university vice-chancellors and the director of the Slovak Information
Service (SIS) will be under stricter public control.
The new law on conflict of interests binds all public officials to
publish information of their property and entrepreneurial activities. If
they fail to do so they will face a threat of losing their mandate.
For instance, Slovak Parliament members cannot be businessmen, company
executives or members of company and supervisory boards under the new law.
They will not be able to sign agreements on tacit cooperation but will be
able to remain share holders or partners in companies in which other
people are executives.
In addition, if a new law concerning a certain industrial branch is
debated in parliament, a deputy who does business in the same sphere is
obliged to inform the parliament leadership of the fact beforehand.
Statements on the state of property should not only be submitted by
public officials but also by their wives and their under age children who
live in the same household with them.
Story Link
ON THE OP-ED PAGES: WHAT SOME ARE SAYING ABOUT OPEN GOVERNMENT
Editor & Publisher's Mark Fitzgerald on what's missing from all those
presidential endorsements: "Something's missing this election year from the presidential
endorsements of newspapers: Any discussion about the issues most important
to the work of newspapers.
According to E&P's exclusive tally of presidential endorsements, nearly 90
dailies so far have weighed in for either President George W. Bush or Sen.
John Kerry. Many of the editorials have been unusually passionate. But
you'll search pretty much in vain for any mention of the issues that
directly impact the historic mission of newspapers to tell American
citizens fairly, fearlessly, and frankly what their national government is
doing in their name.
There's nothing anywhere about Attorney General John Ashcroft's order to
bureaucrats that turns federal Freedom of Information (FOI) law on its
head by requiring citizens to prove to government why information must be
public, rather than putting that burden on government, where it
belongs..."
Story Link
Dorothy Samuels on a little-discussed issue in the presidential campaign:
"It is only inevitable, I suppose, that some big issues never make it onto
the agenda of a presidential campaign, and other lesser issues, or total
nonissues, somehow emerge instead. Electoral politics, as Americans are
regularly being reminded these final hard-fought days before the election,
is a brutal, messy business, not an antiseptic political science exercise.
That said, I hereby confess to feeling disappointed over Senator John
Kerry's failure to home in hard on one of the more worrisome domestic
policy developments of the past four years - namely the Bush
administration's drastic expansion of needless government secrecy.
President Bush's antipathy to open government continues to garner only a
trivial level of attention compared with the pressing matters that seem to
be engaging the country at the moment, including, in no particular order,
the Red Sox, Iraq, terrorism, taxes and the mysterious iPod-size bulge
visible under the back of Mr. Bush's suit jacket at the first debate. But
the implications for a second term are ominous...."
Story Link
The Baltimore Sun's C. Fraser Smith on a secret land deal in Maryland: "Over the last few months, the Ehrlich administration has been preparing
to put 836 acres in Southern Maryland in the hands of a "benefactor" who
turns out to be one of Maryland's leading businessmen and a major
contributor to political campaigns.
The once-secret deal, now threatened with death by disclosure, moved
forward under the banner of land preservation. Closer scrutiny led some to
believe it would allow more sprawl. It looked like tribute for a political
insider.
Is this what Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. had in mind when he urged Maryland
businessmen to start helping their friends and punishing their enemies?
Almost no one would oppose putting this land out of reach of developers.
But why not do it in the open? Even if everything about it is pure as the
driven snow, secrecy raises concerns..."
Story Link
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