Making Government Transparent and Accountable
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
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Stevens Prosecution Thrown Out
Late last year, Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted on seven felony counts of making false statements on his personal financial disclosures. The octagenarian had received numerous gifts from an oil services company executive, including a full remodeling of his “chalet,” a modest house in Girdwood, Alaska. Stevens wasn’t helped in his trial by his cantakerous appearance on the stand and was not only convicted, but subsequently lost reelection, despite having nearly everything in Alaska named after him. Unless this is some cruel April Fool’s joke, Stevens is in for some good news:
The Justice Department on Wednesday asked a federal judge to drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.
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In a move first reported by NPR, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he has decided to drop the case against Stevens rather than continue to defend the conviction in the face of persistent problems stemming from the actions of prosecutors.
“After careful review, I have concluded that certain information should have been provided to the defense for use at trial,” Holder said in a statement Wednesday. “In light of this conclusion, and in consideration of the totality of the circumstances of this particular case, I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial.”
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With more ugly hearings expected, Holder is said to have decided late Tuesday to pull the plug. His decision is said to be based on Stevens’ age — he’s 85 — and the fact that Stevens is no longer in the Senate. Perhaps most importantly, Justice Department officials say Holder wants to send a message to prosecutors throughout the department that actions he regards as misconduct will not be tolerated.
I’ll have to admit that while this is somewhat shocking, it isn’t that much of a surprise. The prosecution was a disaster during the case and, if Stevens had not taken the stand and impugned his own integrity, I couldn’t imagine a jury going along with such a terrible prosecution. Apparently this has been a serious problem at Justice over the past few years and this is Attorney General Holder putting his foot down.
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Freedom of Information Across the Globe
Obviously, open and easy access to government information is not only essential to democracy here in the United States, it’s vital throughout the world as well. Global Integrity, who came out with their annual Global Integrity Report last month (which I blogged about then) has followed up with a more focused look at the degree of freedom of information in each country.
Every year, Global Integrity’s research teams assess whether citizens of each country have a right to government information. Regionally, the Middle East and North Africa score the worst when it comes to freedom of government information. Not all is totally bleak in those regions. Jordan is notable for making significant reforms. Unsurprisingly, those scoring the highest in access to government information are most European countries and Japan.
Most Eastern European nations are dramatically improving their scores, which Global Integrity attributes at least partly to their drive for membership in the European Union. Also at play, in a quite inspiring fashion, is how the region’s history of totalitarian domination, filled with decades of intimidation, paranoia and disappearance, has made government transparency appealing. Most of the region’s governments have opened up Soviet-era surveillance files, further fueling the desire to reject the secrecy of the police state and embrace open and democratic government.
Unfortunately, the United States does not make the “best of” list, nor does Canada. Long delays in government replies to information requests are the culprit. We’ve got much work to do. Hopefully, Attorney General Eric Holder’s memo instituting “a presumption of openness” in regard to federal agencies’ responses to Freedom of Information Act requests, which he issued last week, is a big step in the right direction.
Check out Global Integrity’s report.
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Eric Holder Favors Maximum Disclosure of OLC Memos
According to Secrecy News, the incoming Attorney General, who will be confirmed later today, has stated his position that Office of Legal Counsel memos should be made publicly available to “the maximum extent consistent with sound practice and competing concerns.”
“I firmly believe that transparency is a key to good government. Openness allows the public to have faith that its government obeys the law,” Mr. Holder told Sen. Feingold.
More particularly, he said he favored maximum public disclosure of Office of Legal Counsel opinions.
“Once the new Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel is confirmed, I plan to instruct that official to review the OLC’s policies relating to publication of its opinions with the [objective] of making its opinions available to the maximum extent consistent with sound practice and competing concerns,” Mr. Holder wrote.
The Office of Legal Counsel provides authoritative legal advice to the Attorney General that often sets the legal policy of the administration. During the Bush administration, OLC memos were not available to the public and were often used to provide legal justification to many controversial programs and policies, including war time powers, the use of torture, secret prisons, warantless wiretapping, and extraordinary rendition.
As the Secrecy News article notes, ProPublica is providing a database of Bush era OLC memos on controversial topics.
