Written by Mary Godfrey-Rickards, AALL Government Relations Committee AALL Contact: Emily Feltren, (202) 942-4233, [email protected] May 2012

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Written by Mary Godfrey-Rickards, AALL Government Relations Committee AALL Contact: Emily Feltren, (202) 942-4233, Efeltren@Aall.Org May 2012

Access to Presidential Records Congress enacted the Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978 (44 U.S.C. §§2201-2207) in the wake of the Watergate scandal to ensure public access to White House records. Importantly, the PRA changed the legal ownership of the official records of the President from private to public, clarifying that presidential records belong to the people. Access to these records provides a unique and rich perspective of our history. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have all issued Executive Orders which amend the Presidential Records Act and interpret how to deal with executive privilege claims. For example, President Bush’s Executive Order 13233 gave him and former presidents the right to veto requests to open any presidential records. It permitted the sitting president to exercise executive privilege, even if a former president wanted his records to be released. It also gave the sitting president and former presidents an indefinite amount of time to respond to any requests for records. The Bush Executive Order was revoked by President Obama on his first day in office. President Obama issued Executive Order 13489 which set clear procedures for dealing with privilege claims and opened 245,763 pages of Presidents Reagan and Bush’s presidential records for research at their respective libraries. The clear differences in these Executive Orders attest to the pervasive inconsistency in how presidential papers are handled and the need for a statutory fix. The Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2011 (H.R. 3071) will ensure access to presidential records by establishing necessary procedures for the assertion of privilege against disclosure of presidential records. The American Association of Law Libraries urges Representatives to support H.R. 3071 because: The American people own presidential records and have a right to fair and consistent access. H.R. 3071 clarifies the rights and obligations of the incumbent president and the Archivist of the United States in dealing with claims of executive privilege. Presidential records must be available to the public in a timely manner. Historians, scholars and members of the public rely on access to presidential records to conduct research. H.R. 3071 imposes a time limit in which a former president must assert any claim of privilege. The bill will provide a necessary statutory fix. As is clear from the Executive Orders issued by Presidents Reagan, Bush and Obama, presidents have vastly different interpretations of how to properly deal with executive privilege. Without reform, each incoming president will be able to decide how to deal with claims of privilege by former and incumbent presidents. The president does not always have transparency in mind. H.R. 3071 ensures an orderly process for dealing with claims of privilege over the records of former presidents that afford the greatest degree of public access. Written by Mary Godfrey-Rickards, AALL Government Relations Committee AALL Contact: Emily Feltren, (202) 942-4233, [email protected] May 2012 .

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Case 1:01-Cv-02447-CKK Document 54 Filed 09/24/05 Page 1 of 24
Case 1:01-cv-02447-CKK Document 54 Filed 09/24/05 Page 1 of 24 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Civil Action No. 01-2447 (CKK) NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION (September 24, 2005) I. Introduction Presently before the Court is a dispute over the relationship between an executive order issued by the president of the United States and a statute passed by Congress. Plaintiffs have asked the Court to find that the president has overstepped the limitations on his power by issuing an executive order that alters the terms of a statute. Plaintiffs1 have sued the National Archives 1Plaintiffs listed on the First Amended Complaint, filed July 2, 2004, are the American Historical Association, a nonprofit organization founded “for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical documents and artifacts, and the dissemination of historical research,” Stanley I. Kutler, Professor Emeritus of History and Law at the University of Wisconsin, the National Security Archive, a nongovernmental research institute and library, the Organization of American Historians, a nonprofit organization “devoted to promoting the study and teaching of American history,” Public Citizen, Inc., a public interest organization “dedicated to protecting the rights of members of the public as both consumers and citizens,” the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a nonprofit “association of reporters and editors dedicated to protecting freedom of the press,” and the American Political Science Association, “the world’s Case 1:01-cv-02447-CKK Document 54 Filed 09/24/05 Page 2 of 24 and Records Administration (“NARA”), and the Archivist of the United States,2 (“the Government” or collectively, “Defendants”), seeking access to presidential records of former President Ronald Reagan that they claim are being improperly withheld by the executive branch.
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In the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
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