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Follow-up to the article that started the relentless investigation into the issue of domestic surveillance…news this evening that the New York Times has sued the Dept. of Defense pursuant to a FOIA request to obtain documents related to the government’s monitoring of citizen communications.
Follow-up to February 22, 2006 posting, Agency Documents Increasingly Withheld From Public Access Through Sensitive Designation, see this press release the same day from NARA: “As part of an ongoing review of the reclassification of documents at the National Archives, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein said, “Inappropriate declassification can subject our citizens, our …
From OMB Watch: “The explosion in the use by federal agencies of Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) designations to withhold information since the 9/11 terrorist attacks has resulted in uneven policies across agencies and unnecessary restrictions on public access to information, according to a recent American Bar Association report. Such problems have manifested themselves in Connecticut, …
SUMMARY: The Department of the Army is revising our rule in support of the Freedom of Information Act as required by public law and updating the provisions for access and release of information from all Army information systems (automated and manual) that further supports the Army’s Records Management Program. This rule finalizes the proposed rule …
National Security Archive press release: “The CIA and other federal agencies have secretly reclassified over 55,000 pages of records taken from the open shelves at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), according to a report published today on the World Wide Web by the National Security Archive at George Washington University. Matthew Aid, author …
More terrific research by Michael Ravnitzky has been posted to the Memory Hole. Minutes of the Legislative Reference Service, 1947-1953, The Forerunner of the Congressional Research Service (26 pages, PDF).
Follow-up to a series of recent postings on the growing controversy concerning NASA’s policy to limit public access to accurate scientific documents on global warming. New York Times – Call for Openness at NASA Adds to Reports of Pressure: “Top political appointees in the NASA press office exerted strong pressure during the 2004 presidential campaign …
“In response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit (PDF) filed by EPIC, a federal judge has ordered (PDF) the Department of Justice to process and release documents related to the Bush Administration’s warrantless surveillance program by March 8. It is the first court opinion addressing the controversial domestic spying operation. “President Bush has invited …
House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, February 15, 2006 Hearing, The Internet in China: A Tool for Freedom or Suppression? Links to statements and testimony below are in PDF: The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, The Honorable James A. Leach, Mr. James Keith, The Honorable David …
National Security Archives press release: “Under pressure from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the Justice Department on February 10 conceded in federal court that it could begin releasing as early as March 3 the internal legal memos relied on by the Bush administration in setting up the controversial National Security Agency warrantless wiretapping program. …
Following up on recent postings: Yahoo Issues Statement on Chinese Net Censorship, Net Censorship Abroad – Free Speech Colides With E-commerce? and Hearing Focuses on Internet Censorship in China, related news today via this State Dept. press release – statement of Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Josette Shiner: “I’m pleased …
Review of FOIA Countries Worldwide – February 1, 2006 (10 pages, PDF), by Roger Vleugels, an independent Dutch-based legal consultant and FOIA expert.
