PROMISES, PROMISES: AP review finds government use of FOIA exemptions up despite Obama pledge
By Sharon Theimer, APTuesday, March 16, 2010
PROMISES, PROMISES: Is gov’t more open with Obama?
WASHINGTON — The government’s use of legal exemptions to keep records secret rose during President Barack Obama’s first year in office, in spite of promises of increased openness.
The Associated Press reviewed annual Freedom of Information Act reports filed by 17 major agencies. The review found that overall, the use of nearly every one of the open-records law’s nine exemptions to withhold information rose in fiscal year 2009, which ended last October.
Among the most frequently used exemptions is one that lets the government hold back records that detail its internal decision-making. Obama had directed agencies to stop using that exemption so frequently, but that directive appears to have been widely ignored.
On the Net:
Freedom of Information Act: www.justice.gov/oip/04_7.html
