For release February
5, 2003 |
For more information, contact:
Meredith Fuchs 202/994-7000
Thomas W. Brunner 202/719-7000 |
SUPREME COURT CASE POSES RISK TO FREEDOM OF
INFORMATION; ARCHIVE FILES AMICUS BRIEF TO DEFEND BROAD DISCLOSURE
Treasury v. Chicago Could Limit FOIA Purpose to Evaluating
Government Conduct, But Statutory Intent Was to Ensure Access
for any Public or Private Purpose.
Washington, D.C., February 6, 2003 - The National Security
Archive yesterday filed an amicus
brief in the pending U.S. Supreme Court case, Department
of the Treasury v. City of Chicago. The case involves the
gun trace database maintained by Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms, which seeks to prevent Chicago from obtaining
information such as names and addresses of gun purchasers from
the database.
The Treasury Department's argument recognizes only the privacy
interests in the information, and no broader public interest in
law enforcement or gun policy issues. The Treasury Department
would narrow the reach of the Freedom of Information Act by restricting
the FOIA's disclosure requirements only to records that directly
"cast light on the ATF's performance." Limiting access
to such a narrow category of records would overlook the broad
disclosure mandated by the FOIA's legislative history, which requires
disclosure for any public or private purpose. The Seventh Circuit
Court of Appeals ruled for the City of Chicago, so a Supreme Court
reversal poses the risk that a narrow definition of the FOIA's
purpose could drastically limit the disclosure of information,
even in areas beyond the privacy interests particularly at issue
in this case. Such a holding could well end the use of FOIA to
uncover critical information in government files that concerns
the health, safety, security and welfare of the public.
Thomas W. Brunner, a partner at Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP,
who co-authored the brief with the Archive's General Counsel Meredith
Fuchs, stated: "The Archive filed this brief to rein in recent
judicial decisions that significantly narrow the Freedom of Information
Act."
Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP is a national law firm with over
200 attorneys practicing in more than two dozen specialties of
law. The firm serves a diverse clientele of domestic and international
corporations, associations and individuals. For more information
see www.wrf.com.
The National Security Archive won the prestigious George Polk
Award in April 2000 for "piercing self-serving veils of government
secrecy." The Archive's many FOIA litigation victories include
the release of historic documentation ranging from the Kennedy-Khrushchev
letters during the Cuban missile crisis to Oliver North's diaries
during the Iran-contra scandal, and the landmark case that saved
from destruction the White House e-mail of the Reagan, Bush, and
Clinton administrations. For more information, see www.nsarchive.org.