Judge Orders CIA to Stop Abusing Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] Exemption

[Peter Lemkin]

Judge Orders CIA to Stop Abusing Freedom of Information Act Exemption

By Noel Brinkerhoff / AllGov September 27th, 2013

Much to the delight of government watchdogs and the media, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was ordered recently by a federal judge to stop avoiding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by claiming illegal exemptions to federal law.

In a case brought by the non-profit National Security Counselors, Judge Beryl A. Howell said the CIA had made "inappropriate" use of an exemption provided under the Central Intelligence Agency Act (pdf) to withhold information that was not subject to the exemption.
The ruling (pdf) focused on Section 403g of the act that allows the CIA to exempt from release information concerning "the organization, functions, names, official titles, salaries, or numbers of personnel employed by" the agency.
Howell ruled that CIA was interpreting this provision in a manner that was "inappropriately broad" by wrongly attempting to withhold virtually any "information that relates to" the CIA organization and personnel."
"The Court holds that the CIA may not invoke [50 USC] 403g to withhold information merely because that information may be used by CIA personnel to carry out their responsibilities or functions," Howell wrote. "The CIA Act does not protect all information about CIA functions generally….The CIA may only invoke 50 USC 403g to withhold information under the FOIA if it would reveal the specific categories of personnel-related information enumerated in the statute."
Steven Aftergood at Secrecy News said the ruling represented "a rare judicial setback for the CIA, and a reversal of the more familiar expansion of national security secrecy authority."
Harry Hammitt of Access Reports, which monitors FOIA policy, told Aftergood that the ruling "really is something pretty remarkable," because "Judge Howell has narrowed the interpretation of the statute dramatically."
Appointed to the D.C. District Court by President Barack Obama in 2010, Howell in 2011, ordered the Obama administration to release White House visitor logs. In June 2013, she ruled that the 64-year ban on protests in front of the U.S. Supreme Court was unconstitution

More:

Court Curbs CIA Use of a FOIA Exemption (by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News)
Opinion: National Security Counselors v. Central Intelligence Agency (Judge Beryl A. Howell, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia) (pdf)
National Security Increasingly Cited in Freedom of Information Act Denials; EPA Suspected of Selective Obstruction (by Danny Biederman and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
CIA Releases Documents…20 Years After Requested (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies...ews=851226

[Magda Hassan]

This is refreshing to see. Some legal support for freedom of information instead of freedom from information.

[David Guyatt]

Aye, but will the CIA abide by the ruling or just ignore it?

[Magda Hassan]

They are not really inclined to go by the rule of law are they? Or even the spirit.

[David Guyatt]

Especially not the spirit! ::facepalm::

[Tracy Riddle]

Congressman John Moss (D-Calif.) was the main force behind pushing the FOIA through Congress. Bill Moyers recalled: "…what few people knew at the time is that LBJ had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the signing ceremony. He hated the very idea of the Freedom of Information Act; hated the thought of journalists rummaging in government closets; hated them challenging the official view of reality. He dug in his heels and even threatened to pocket veto the bill after it reached the White House. Only the courage and political skill of a Congressman named John Moss got the bill passed at all, and that was after a twelve-year battle against his elders in Congress who blinked every time the sun shined in the dark corridors of power." (PBS, 4/5/2002)

The bill contained numerous exemptions, and did not work well at all until after Watergate, in 1974, when Congress strengthened the power of the FOIA considerably. Then it was weakened again in the Reagan years.

[Marlene Zenker]

Congressman John Moss (D-Calif.) was the main force behind pushing the FOIA through Congress. Bill Moyers recalled: "…what few people knew at the time is that LBJ had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the signing ceremony. He hated the very idea of the Freedom of Information Act; hated the thought of journalists rummaging in government closets; hated them challenging the official view of reality. He dug in his heels and even threatened to pocket veto the bill after it reached the White House. Only the courage and political skill of a Congressman named John Moss got the bill passed at all, and that was after a twelve-year battle against his elders in Congress who blinked every time the sun shined in the dark corridors of power." (PBS, 4/5/2002)

The bill contained numerous exemptions, and did not work well at all until after Watergate, in 1974, when Congress strengthened the power of the FOIA considerably. Then it was weakened again in the Reagan years.

I would like to start a campaign where every time a media person uses the excuse "Well so and so can't say or do this because they are coming up for reelection" or similar statements that we call them out publicly. More pertinent to the subject of this thread we also need to get into the mainstream, literally pound it into the minds of the public, the press and the politicians that these assholes work for us including the CIA et al. We need to change the tone and get people to realize that we are not sheep. It is refreshing to see that at least a todo has arisen over Chuck Todd thinking that he should only report what is said not what is true. Just my 2 cents.