Govt Will Appeal FOIA Ruling on NRO Budget Docs
The U.S. Department of Justice said this week that it will seek to overturn a federal court ruling that required the National Reconnaissance Office to process a request from the Federation of American Scientists for release of NRO budget documents.
In a July 24, 2006 decision (pdf), Judge Reggie B. Walton had ruled that the NRO’s refusal to process the FAS Freedom of Information Act request was unlawful.
Judge Walton ordered the intelligence agency to move forward with the request, which was limited to unclassified budget records. The NRO promptly advised FAS that it would comply with the order.
But instead, the Justice Department indicated (pdf) on September 20 that it would challenge the decision in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
The action is consistent with the Bush Administration’s restrictive Freedom of Information Act policy, which encourages agencies to withhold information whenever possible and promises to support them when they do.
“When you carefully consider FOIA requests and decide to withhold records, in whole or in part, you can be assured that the Department of Justice will defend your decisions,” Attorney General John Ashcroft told executive branch agencies in the October 12, 2001 policy.
In other FOIA news, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senators Cornyn and Leahy that would make certain procedural improvements in the FOIA.
Senator Leahy itemized the proposed changes in a September 21 news release.
While the Cornyn-Leahy changes would be welcome, none of them could substitute for an official commitment to open government or a rational disclosure policy.
Nor would they dissuade the Justice Department from working to overturn judicial decisions in favor of FOIA plaintiffs like that of Judge Walton.
To increase the real and perceived benefit of research funding, funding agencies should develop challenge goals for their extramural research programs focused on the impact portion of their mission.
Without trusted mechanisms to ensure privacy while enabling secure data access, essential R&D stalls, educational innovation stalls, and U.S. global competitiveness suffers.
Satellite imagery has long served as a tool for observing on-the-ground activity worldwide, and offers especially valuable insights into the operation, development, and physical features related to nuclear technology.
This year’s Red Sky Summit was an opportunity to further consider what the role of fire tech can and should be – and how public policy can support its development, scaling, and application.