Friday, March 20, 2009

In Sunshine Week, feds issue open-records rules

The Obama administration is making federal information more accessible. Guidelines issued yesterday by Attorney General Eric Holder instructed government agencies to release their records unless releasing that data would likely cause harm.

The new guidelines outline a policy that "essentially returns to one issued by Attorney General Janet Reno during the Clinton administration," writes Michael Sniffen of The Associated Press. "It would replace a more restrictive policy imposed by the Bush administration under which the Justice Department would defend any sound legal argument for withholding records."

Fittingly, the guidelines for administering the federal Freedom of Information Act were issued near the end of Sunshine Week, when journalists and other organizations work to promote openness in government. (Read more)

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