Access: Denied,Information limited

Attorney General John Ashcroft sent a memo to all government agencies Oct. 12, 2001 advising them to be more careful about what information is released to historians, journalists and members of the general public under the Freedom of Information Act, a law that allows the public to keep tabs on the inner workings of the federal government.\nSince the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon, the government has been curtailing the information normally released to the public in the name of national security. Information has been removed from Web sites, and information requests are delayed or denied, making it difficult for IU professors to complete necessary research.\n"Some of these steps make sense in the light of Sept. 11, such as removing detailed information about nuclear plants and chemical weapons from Web sites," law professor Fred Cate said.\nBut some of the information being restricted does not seem to have any connection to the interests of national security.\nPresident George W. Bush issued an executive order Nov. 1, 2001 blocking the access of sensitive presidential documents, which were available under the Presidential Release Act of 1978. Now the information held in presidential archives can only be accessed with the consent of the sitting president and the former president in question.\nMany anticipate challenges to the limitation of information release.\n"I don't believe that Ashcroft will (have) that much effect because there will be legal challenges and the courts will, in all likelihood, strike down almost all obstacles blocking the functioning of the free press and scholarship," history professor Irving Katz said. "The burden of proof that a national emergency requires such restrictions on what journalists and scholars can gain access to will rest heavily on the federal government's lawyers, who will have to convince judges that it is in the national interest to impose such restrictions."\nWhile perhaps temporary, these changes in policy make scholarship in many fields a difficult or impossible task. They also affect journalism adversely. \n"This ruling makes research nearly impossible," associate history professor Nick Cullather said. "Many presidents don't want all of their papers released, and now they can prevent that, making research into modern presidencies extremely difficult."\nCullather added that he has had difficulty receiving information under FOIA.\n"Some of my requests have been delayed," he said. "And when I receive the documents, they are heavily edited."\nPolitical science professor Gerald Wright said the restrictions would hamper research.\n"Anything that keeps important information from the public undermines the ability of scholars to fully understand and explain the decision making of the executive branch," he said.\nThe Bush administration has been heavily criticized for the reversal of presidential access and in the eyes of many has not produced convincing arguments as to why the access is now limited.\nCate, who agrees that some limitation is necessary for safety, believes that the administration has gone too far.\n"Most of the administration's actions have either gone too far or have nothing to do with September 11 in the first place," he said.\nChristine Barbour, clinical assistant professor of political science, also said the limitations were unnecessary.\n"I think Bush's motives in giving a sitting president control of what other presidents' papers are released are highly questionable," she said. "From where I sit, it looks like he did it to prevent some of Reagan's papers from being released, which would embarrass many members of his administration, and his father, as well. I can't think of a justifiable reason for doing that, and none of the reasons provided by the Bush administration seem persuasive to me."\nCullather said the recent restrictions in information access were to be expected.\n"The public goes through stages in how much information it demands," he said. "The nineties saw a great demand for information, and more was released. After the attacks of Sept. 11 the public is allowing for more secrecy in the name of security."\nCate warns that giving up liberties in a Faustian bargain means that the terrorists accomplished their goals.\n"Remember the words of Benjamin Franklin," he said. "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety, and all to often achieve neither as well"