- action | issues
- Academic Freedom
- Books
- Classrooms
- Copyright
- Film
- Government Secrecy
- Hate Speech
- Internet
- LGBT
- Libraries
- Music
- Nudity & Pornography
- Political Correctness
- Political Dissent
- Public Spaces
- Race Ethnicity Gender
- Radio & Television
- Religion
- Science
- Sex Education
- Theater & Performance
- Video Games
- Violence
- Visual Art
- Youth
- advocacy | projects
- education | resources
in support of free expression
The information presented here by the National
Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) may be freely redistributed in its entirety,
provided that readers are informed that the information was obtained from
NCAC's World Wide Web site and that credit is given to the appropriate source
of whatever information is used. Permission is expressly granted for the information
obtained to be made available for file transfer from installations offering
unrestricted anonymous file transfer on the Internet. Information found here
may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without
the written permission from the National Coalition Against Censorship.
LAST UPDATED APRIL 2005
©Copyright 2005 NCAC
WEB DESIGN
Jeanne Criscola Criscola Design
NCAC Censorship News Issue #89:
Keeping Government Documents Secret
President Bush has signed an executive order which keeps secret, for another three years, millions of government documents that were due to become declassified on April 17. The new policy amends a more open policy of President Clinton.
The Vice-President, for the first time, has been given the power to classify documents, joining in the privilege with other agency heads and the President. Historians are particularly concerned that the new policy makes it harder to document the actions of presidents and their administrations. Critics who had expected President Bush to enact a more restrictive policy, given his record on secrecy, were relieved that it preserves an automatic declassification process and an appeals panel which has overturned most classification decisions it has formerly reviewed.