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THE SECRET LIVES OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS: BALANCING PUBLIC ACCESS AND NATIONAL SECURITY IN AN AGE OF TERRORISM By THOMAS W. BREWER A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2004 Copyright 2004 by Thomas W. Brewer This document is dedicated to Sarah Molinari. Her encouragement and patience helped see this project to completion. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author would like to thank Dr. Bill Chamberlin for both his guidance on this project, as well as his encouragement and advice throughout graduate school. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ vii ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 BALANCING SECRECY AND ACCESS..................................................................1 Introduction...................................................................................................................1 Purpose and Relevance.................................................................................................3 Literature Review .........................................................................................................4 Chapter Summaries and Methodology .........................................................................9 2 AN INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN SECRECY................................................13 Introduction.................................................................................................................13 Constitutional Analysis...............................................................................................15 Case Discussion..........................................................................................................21 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................28 3 THE TREND TOWARD ACCESS............................................................................31 Introduction.................................................................................................................31 The Foundations of FOIA...........................................................................................33 FOIA Exemption 1 .....................................................................................................39 Statutory Investigation.........................................................................................39 Case Studies: Early Interpretation of FOIA Exemption 1..................................42 Case Studies: Examples of Exemption 1 Cases .................................................45 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................50 4 SECRECY AND ACCESS IN THE AGE OF TERRORISM ...................................53 Introduction.................................................................................................................53 Clinton and the FOIA .................................................................................................54 Bush and the FOIA .....................................................................................................57 The Ashcroft Memo ............................................................................................58 v The Card Memo...................................................................................................60 The Bush Directives ............................................................................................62 The Office of Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Act.............63 The Patriot Act .............................................................................................67 Criticisms of the Bush Policy .....................................................................................69 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................74 5 EXAMINATION OF ACCESS TRENDS SINCE 9/11 ............................................77 Introduction.................................................................................................................77 Quantitative Analysis..................................................................................................79 Access Trends Across Agencies..........................................................................81 Access Trends at The Department of Defense ....................................................90 Access Trends at The State Department..............................................................92 Access Trends at the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) .........................................94 Access Trends at the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) ....................95 Beyond the Numbers: Interpreting the GAO Report..........................................96 Quantitative Conclusions.....................................................................................97 Qualitative Analysis....................................................................................................98 Introduction .........................................................................................................98 Exploring Withdrawn Internet Information: The Case of the EPA..................100 Conclusion ................................................................................................................105 6 CONCLUSION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH................107 LIST OF REFERENCES.................................................................................................110 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...........................................................................................119 vi LIST OF TABLES Table page 1 Quantity of Requests and Denials for Fiscal Year 2000 ..........................................85 2 Quantity of Requests and Denials for Fiscal Year 2002 ..........................................87 3 Five Year Statistics for the Department of Defense.................................................91 4 Five Year Statistics for the State Department ..........................................................93 5 Five Year Statistics for the Department of Justice...................................................94 6 Department of Homeland Security Statistics for Fiscal Year 2003 .........................96 vii Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Mass Communication THE SECRET LIVES OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS: BALANCING PUBLIC ACCESS AND NATIONAL SECURITY IN AN AGE OF TERRORISM By Thomas W. Brewer August, 2004 Chair: William F. Chamberlin Major Department: Journalism and Communications The battle between government secrecy and the public right of access has endured for over 200 years. Despite an early legal tendency towards favoring nondisclosure, the ratification of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has finally given citizens a cause of action against the government. Presumptions of access now initially rest with the people, and the state has the burden of showing that any given record should be withheld from public circulation. Today, Americans find themselves in an unprecedented state of susceptibility to terrorist attacks. If nothing else, the 9/11 tragedy demonstrated that the United States is not as invulnerable as in past decades. Consequently, the Bush administration has emphasized the need to protect citizens from future terrorist attacks and augment national security. However, critics claim that the Bush administration, while providing these additional security measures, has infringed upon the citizens’ civil liberties. Foremost, viii the Bush measures have provided executive agencies with the power to deny an increasing number of public records requests under the Freedom of Information Act. However, recent figures released by each executive department on FOIA requests indicate that little has changed in either the percentage of requests denied, or the percentage of denied requests on security grounds since the 9/11 attacks. In fact, only two executive departments (Defense and State) referred to the FOIA national security exemption in more than 2% of all cases involving a denied or partially denied request. Comparatively, the General Accounting Office reported that almost 25% of agency employees felt that the Bush administration’s access policy influenced government handling of record requests under the FOIA. Moreover, evidence exists to suggest that the government has erased a significant amount of data from agency websites. Critics argue that these website removals are often overbroad and unrelated to national security interests. The question now becomes whether such access restrictions are justified. Certainly, as the Supreme Court has demonstrated, some information may be justifiably removed or withheld when national security concerns necessitate secrecy. Yet, despite the historical and judicial precedent, government must avoid the temptation to simplify and broaden classification procedures in hopes of easily eliminating

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