Comments:
ASHCROFT TELLS AGENCIES TO RESIST FOIA RELEASES
ASHCROFT TELLS AGENCIES TO RESIST FOIA RELEASES
Attorney General John Ashcroft has issued a new statement of policy that encourages federal agencies to resist Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests whenever they have legal grounds to do so.
The new statement supersedes a 1993 memorandum from Attorney General Janet Reno which promoted disclosure of government information through the FOIA unless it was "reasonably foreseeable that disclosure would be harmful."
The Ashcroft policy rejects this "foreseeable harm" standard.
Instead, the Justice Department instructs agencies to withhold information whenever there is a "sound legal basis" for doing so.
"When you carefully consider FOIA requests and decide to withhold records, in whole or in part," the Attorney General advised, "you can be assured that the Department of Justice will defend your decisions unless they lack a sound legal basis...."
The new FOIA policy statement, issued October 12, is posted here:
http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foiapost/2001foiapost19.htm
For purposes of comparison, Attorney General Reno's 1993 memorandum may be found here: http://www.fas.org/sgp/clinton/reno.html
As with many of the Bush Administration's new restrictions on public information, the new policy is only peripherally related to the fight against terrorism. Rather, it appears to exploit the current circumstances to advance a predisposition toward official secrecy.
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Right-To-Know or Left-To-Wonder? The Terror of Illusion http://www.mapcruzin.com/right-to-know-issues.htm
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