Obama Orders Rollback of Government Secrecy
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ISSN 0028-9485 March 2009 Vol. LVIII No. 2 www.ala.org/nif President Barack Obama’s first public act in office January 21 was to formalize strict new limits on lobbyists operating in his White House and peel back presidential decision- making to allow more public scrutiny. Another shift toward openness—Obama’s instruction to federal agencies to be more responsive to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act—was greeted with praise from government watchdogs. Obama made several moves aimed at creating what he called “a new standard of open- ness” about the behind-the-scenes machinations of his White House—and those before it. Chief among them was issuing an order requiring that the White House consult with the attorney general and White House counsel “any time the American people want to know something that I or a former president want to withhold.” “Information will not be withheld just because I say so,” Obama said while attending a ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to swear in about two dozen of his most senior aides. “It will be withheld because a separate authority believes my request Obama orders is well grounded in the Constitution.” Obama revoked the executive order issued by President George W. Bush in November rollback of 2001, less than two months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, that allowed past government secrecy presidents to exert executive privilege to keep some of their White House papers private. A federal judge ruled parts of it invalid in 2007, while Obama’s order revoked it entirely. Bush’s order was viewed as ushering in a new era of presidential secrecy. Former presidents may ask to have certain documents kept private, but they no longer may compel the National Archives to do so, Obama said. Obama’s executive order also makes clear that neither former vice presidents nor relatives of former presidents who have died have authority to keep records private. Scott Nelson, a Public Citizen lawyer who led the challenge to Bush’s order, said researchers should find it easier to gain access to records under the new order. “It’s a great signal to send on the president’s first day in office,” Nelson said. The Presidential Records Act, passed in 1978, followed Watergate and President Richard Nixon’s attempts to hold on to his papers and tape recordings and made presi- (continued on page 58) Published by the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee, Kenton L. Oliver, Chair The Joy of Gay Sex ���������������������������������������������������������� 34 in this issue The Joy of Sex ������������������������������������������������������������ 33, 34 The Lesbian Kama Sutra ������������������������������������������������� 34 Obama orders rollback of government secrecy ��������������� 29 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ����������������������� 55 My Sister’s Keeper ����������������������������������������������������������� 40 IFC report to ALA Council ���������������������������������������������� 31 Night Talk ������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37 Position of the Day Playbook ������������������������������������������ 42 FTRF report to ALA Council ������������������������������������������ 32 Robbie and the Leap Year Blues �������������������������������������� 64 Sex for Busy People ��������������������������������������������������������� 34 To Kill a Mockingbird ������������������������������������������������������ 38 one library’s experience with censorship ������������������������ 34 Vamos a Cuba ������������������������������������������������������������ 33, 43 A Visit to Cuba ����������������������������������������������������������� 33, 44 report calls online threats overblown ������������������������������ 34 periodicals panel urges Obama to ease limits on scientific Brides ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 34 exports and visas �������������������������������������������������������������� 35 Consumer Reports ������������������������������������������������������������ 34 Mad ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 65 Ayers cancels speech at U. of Toronto after Playboy ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 34 being denied entry into Canada ��������������������������������������� 35 Sports Illustrated �������������������������������������������������������������� 34 Value Line ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 34 Krug earns Brennan Award ���������������������������������������������� 36 film and video 2008 Downs Award given to Brewster Kahle Brokeback Mountain �������������������������������������������������������� 34 and the Internet Archive �������������������������������������������������� 36 Election ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 34 The Films of James Broughton ���������������������������������������� 37 censorship dateline: libraries, schools, college, retail, foreign ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 37 music Hail, Pomona, Hail! �������������������������������������������������������� 41 from the bench: U.S. Supreme Court, libraries, schools, PATRIOT Act, privacy, access to information, visas, labor rights ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 43 is it legal?: schools, university, privacy, child pornography ������������������������������������������������������������ 51 Views of contributors to the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom are not necessarily those of the editors, the Intellectual Freedom success stories: libraries, schools ������������������������������������ 55 Committee, or the American Library Association. (ISSN 0028-9485) Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom is published bimonthly (Jan., targets of the censor Mar., May, July, Sept., Nov.) by the American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. The newsletter is also avail- books able online at www.ala.org/nif. Subscriptions: $70 per year (print), The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian ����������� 41 which includes annual index; $50 per year (electronic); and $85 per year (both print and electronic). For multiple subscriptions And Tango Makes Three �������������������������������������������������� 55 to the same address, and for back issues, please contact the Bless Me, Ultima �������������������������������������������������������������� 39 Office for Intellectual Freedom at 800-545-2433, ext. 4223 or The Book of Bunny Suicides �������������������������������������������� 56 [email protected]. Editorial mail should be addressed to the Office of The Bookseller of Kabul �������������������������������������������������� 40 Intellectual Freedom, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, Illinois 60611. Periodical postage paid at Chicago, IL at additional mailing Fulfilling Dreams ������������������������������������������������������������� 65 offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Newsletter on Girl, Interrupted ��������������������������������������������������������������� 56 Intellectual Freedom, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. 30 Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom IFC report to ALA Council viding information useful to front-line library workers or LIS students seeking an introduction to intellectual freedom. The following is the text of the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee’s Report to the ALA Council, delivered by IFC Privacy and Confidentiality Issues: A Guide for Libraries Chair J. Douglas Archer at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in and their Lawyers Denver on January 28. ALA Editions recently published Privacy and Confidentiality Issues: A Guide for Libraries and their The ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) is Lawyers, a new publication by Freedom to Read Foundation pleased to present this update of its activities. General Counsel Theresa Chmara. The publication dis- cusses legal policy issues relating to patron privacy and confidentiality that often raise First Amendment questions. INFORMATION It is designed for use by librarians and legal counsel and OIF Director Judith Krug Receives Brennan Award uses a question and answer format to help libraries and On January 13, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the their counsel become familiar with the constitutional rights Protection of Free Expression announced that OIF Director, of patrons so that they can take action to protect users’ First Judith F. Krug, will receive the fifth William J. Brennan, Amendment and privacy rights. Jr. Award. The award recognizes a person or group who The topics addressed by the publication include: has demonstrated a commitment to the principles of free expression consistent with the late U.S. Supreme Court l What First Amendment rights exist in libraries Justice’s abiding devotion to the First Amendment. Dr. l How to create a library policy to best protect patrons’ Krug will receive her award during the Freedom to Read confidentiality and privacy Foundation’s 40th Anniversary Gala this July. l The appropriate responses to requests for patron records Festschrift to Honor Gordon M. Conable l How to deal with the nuances of Internet use privacy At the 2005 Midwinter Meeting, the Intellectual Freedom l The role of the library as employer Round Table (IFRT), the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF), and the IFC began work on a Festschrift to honor Actual court case studies lend a sense of urgency to the Gordon M. Conable. ALA Editions will publish it in March explanations,