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Opinion: U.S. should release report on torture after 9/11

donal brown April 30, 2012

The people should know how torture or “enhanced interrogation” became the policy of the United States in the fight against terrorism and its effectiveness, argues a Los Angeles Times editorial. Former government officials and U.S. lawmakers differ in opinion about the effectiveness of the policy, and the people should have the information needed to determine how they stand on the issue. -db From an editorial in the Los Angeles Times, April 27, 2012. Full editorial

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Federal judge backs Obama in his refusal to release bin Laden photos

donal brown April 27, 2012

President Barack Obama won a battle in federal court this week when the judge rejected a request from Judicial Watch to force the administration to release photos and video of the operation that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last year. The judge refused to overrule the CIA  and Defense Department in its claim that the records would bring national security risks. -db From Reuters, April 26, 2012, by Jeremy Pelofsky and James Vicini. Full

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Opinion: Obama administration falls far short of transparency goals

donal brown April 18, 2012

Three lawyers with experience in litigating Freedom of Information Act cases charge that the Obama administration has performed poorly in promoting government transparency. Whereas Attorney General Eric Holder said he would only defend agencies when it was clear that disclosure was contrary to law or would cause harm, in actual practice since his pronouncement Holder has never refused to defend an agency withholding information. -db From a commentary for The National Law Journal, April 16,

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FBI suffers setback in effort to bury file on 1960s informant

donal brown April 5, 2012

  The FBI lost another round Wednesday in its quest to withhold records detailing the late Memphis photographer Ernest Withers’ secret work as an informant in the 1960s. A federal judge held that the FBI made errors and lapses but also deliberate decisions that confirmed the fact that Withers was an informant, making his file eligible for release to the Memphis Commercial Appeal under the Freedom of Information Act.  -db From the Memphis Commercial Appeal,

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Federal judge rules against CIA in case involving declassification review

donal brown April 3, 2012

The CIA flubbed it in making a search under the Freedom of Information Act for information on a Mandatory Declassification Review program. A federal judge ruled that the agency failed to make the case that  it conducted a reasonable search and illegally  narrowed the scope of the search. -db From the Courthouse News Service, April 3, 2012, by Ryan Abbott. Full story  

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