Presidential Memorandum Lets Sun Shine On Government Secrecy

January 21, 2009 12:00 am


Media Contact
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004
United States

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON – In a move intended to improve government transparency and accountability, the Obama administration today released a presidential memorandum directing government agencies to comply swiftly and thoroughly with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

The following can be attributed Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“We’re greatly encouraged that the Obama administration has decided to let the sun shine in by making government transparency a priority. FOIA is an invaluable tool not just for reporters and advocacy organizations, but for all Americans. An accountable government is an effective government, and it can only be sustained when its citizens are fully informed.

“This memorandum reverses the Ashcroft Doctrine put in place by the Bush administration instructing agencies to withhold information whenever there is a ‘sound legal basis.’ It restores the presumption of disclosure and demands that agencies take affirmative steps to make information public rather than waiting for specific requests. This approach to FOIA is just the antidote we need to remedy the kind of opaque governing we saw during the last eight years. Sunshine is, indeed, the best of disinfectants and we have great hope for a new and untainted era of government.”

# # #

By completing this form, I agree to receive occasional emails per the terms of the ACLU’s privacy policy.

The Latest in Free Speech

ACLU's Vision

The American Civil Liberties Union is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America.

Learn More About Free Speech

Free Speech issue image

Protecting free speech means protecting a free press, the democratic process, diversity of thought, and so much more. The ACLU has worked since 1920 to ensure that freedom of speech is protected for everyone.