DECEMBER 15, 2005 Government Tightens Access To Information By Scott Nicholson
http://www.mountaintimes.com/mtweekly/2005/1215/govtightenaccess.php3
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests are being denied by the government at a higher rate even though the number of requests have declined.
That’s the conclusion of a study conducted by the Coalition of Journalists For Open Government. Requests from journalists and the public to federal agencies dropped by 13 percent since 2000, while the use of exemptions to deny giving out information rose by 22 percent over the same period.
The coalition’s study suggests government agencies are making greater use of exemptions since former Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a memo that created a change in perception toward the handling of FOIA requests.
Michael Hettinger, staff director for the Subcommittee on Government Management, Finance and Accountability, acknowledged the Ashcroft memo signaled a sea change in how agencies viewed FOIA requests.
A previous memo issued under the Clinton Administration and then-Attorney General Janet Reno supported a more responsive government.
"There was a dramatic shift under the Bush administration, and it changed the way agencies viewed the requests," Hettinger said. "Reno said disclose as much as possible, while Ashcroft said disclose as little as you can."
Hettinger said the subcommittee is always balancing all sides of the issue, saying from its perspective, there’s an obvious need for open government, with as much access to records as possible.
However, there are national security concerns and a financial and resource burden in filling FOIA requests.
Ashcroft’s memo said the Department of Justice and the Bush administration "are committed to full compliance with the Freedom of Information Act," but cited Congressional and court precedence that "certain legal privileges ensure candid and complete agency deliberations without fear that they will be made public." The memo also encourages federal agencies to "carefully consider the protection of all such values and interests" when deliberating what to disclose in FOIA requests.
The memo also encourages careful consideration of institutional, commercial, and personal privacy in the decisions. Ashcroft also said the Department of Justice would side with all agencies in their decisions, unless they lacked a sound legal basis. Most FOIA requests are made to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Ninety-nine percent of those requests are fulfilled.
Among the 22 other major federal agencies, only two-thirds of FOIA requests were met. Though blank denials stayed at about the same percentage, only 45 percent of requesters received all the information they sought.
Most FOIA requests were denied based on policies which exempt information about internal agency procedures or interagency communications. Exemptions citing the protection of trade secrets or commercial information have also increased.
Though national security has been a heightened concern, fewer federal agencies are citing it in rejecting FOIA requests. The departments of State, Justice and Agriculture were twice as likely to deny a full FOIA request in 2004 as in 2000.
FOIA requests also became more expensive over the four-year period, according to the study. The average cost of handling a request in 2000 was $300, but last year it rose to $465.
"9/11 changed the ways information is released," Hettinger said, adding the coalition’s study didn’t point out that more than 95 percent of all FOIA requests were filled in full.
He said there are about four million such requests per year, three-fourths of which are Privacy Act requests from people wanting to know the information that government agencies have compiled about them.
Hettinger said the federal government spends about $400 million per year handling FOIA requests. He said there is concern over the withholding of "sensitive but unclassified material," and the subcommittee is studying three bills that address open government.
Hettinger added that while the vast majority of requests are filled, some of those that aren’t filled concern high-profile issues or leaders, which bring them more media attention.
In considering changes to open government laws, Hettinger said the subcommittee wants to "do it methodically and do it right."
He said any changes would have to be designed to not create the opposite of the intended effect. One proposal is to add tracking numbers to all FOIA requests, which Hettinger said could theoretically be effective, but a system would have to be built and funded.
Another proposal would require a response within a given amount of time, such as 20 days. Hettinger said any imposition of a deadline could create pressure that might lead to a search for exemption when a longer deadline might allow a more thorough process.
Hettinger said balancing journalists’ and the public’s right to information with the government’s need for some secrecy is "easier said than done."
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