Abstract
This Note argues that the Bush administration has improperly invoked the national security, law enforcement, and critical infrastructure information exceptions to the Freedom of Information Act to deny valid requests. Because those exceptions are to be "narrowly construed," homeland security concerns do not provide a justifiable basis for the administration's broad restrictions on information disclosure. The government's tight control of access to its records contravenes the spirit of openness and transparency that FOIA was intended to promote, and allows the government to operate "behind closed doors." Therefore, the judiciary should utilize FOIA to place information about the government within the public domain (unless such information clearly fits one of the nine express FOIA exemptions) rather than allowing the government to withhold information on the basis of unfounded fears that disclosure will jeopardize national security.
How to Cite
46 Ariz. L. Rev. 815 (2004)
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