CONNECTICUT FOUNDATION FOR OPEN GOVERNMENT, INC.
Striking The Balance: Open Government
In The Age Of Terrorism
The Connecticut Foundation for Open Government, Inc. (CFOG), in conjunction with Connecticut College and the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, is sponsoring a symposium entitled “Striking the Balance: Open Government in the Age of Terrorism.”
The program will be held at Connecticut College (Evans Hall) on November 7, 2002 from 10:30 a.m. to approximately 3:00 p.m.
During the Spring of 2001, CFOG sponsored a survey of state agency compliance with the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act. The results showed, among other things, that security concerns were often used as barriers to prevent citizens from gaining access to government offices and public records.
Since September 11th, our national, state and local governments have significantly curtailed access to government information by limiting access to judicial and administrative proceedings, by restricting access to public records and by removing important information from their websites – all in the name of security.
But is this level of secrecy necessary to preserve national security? We have entered what may well be a very prolonged period of heightened national security concern. As we settle into this new era, how do we strike the proper balance between the need for heightened security to protect our nation and our people and the fundamental right of the public to know what its government is doing in our name and on our behalf?
These are the broad questions the program will address. Joseph Onek, Senior Counsel and Director of the Constitution Project’s Liberty and Security Initiative, will lead a distinguished panel of nationally-recognized experts representing divergent points of view in a discussion that will, through a series of hypothetical situations, test the limits of current government policy and search for an appropriate balance between legitimate security concerns and the people’s right to know. See the enclosed list of confirmed participants.
The symposium will be video-taped for broadcast and CFOG will make a tape of the program available to schools and other educational institutions. Members of the news media are welcome and facilities will be made available for interviews after the program for those participants who wish to be interviewed.
For further information, contact Eric Turner or Tom Hennick at (860) 566-5682.
LIST OF CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS
(as of October 23, 2002)
Moderator
JOSEPH ONEK, Senior Counsel and Director, The Constitution Project, Liberty and Security Initiative, a bipartisan blue-ribbon committee considering principles for preserving essential liberties during the fight against terrorism. Onek served as Deputy Counsel to President Carter and Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General and State Department Rule of Law Coordinator during the Clinton administration.
Panelists
ZOË BAIRD, President, The Markle Foundation, a private philanthropy that works to realize the potential of emerging communications tools to improve people's lives. Baird previously served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Aetna, Inc. and was a senior visiting scholar at Yale Law School. She was Associate Counsel to President Carter and served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
GARY BASS, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director of OMB Watch, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that promotes increased citizen participation in public policy and greater government accountability. Bass created the Right-to-Know Network, a free online computer service that provides community groups with access to government data on a variety of topics, including toxic chemicals. He received a combined doctorate in psychology and education from the University of Michigan.
PAUL SCHIFF BERMAN, Associate Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law. Professor Berman specializes in cyber law. He was a law clerk first to Chief Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Professor Berman's scholarly writing focuses on the legal and cultural ramifications of online interaction as well as the potentially positive role legal discourse more generally can play within American culture.
LUCY DALGLISH, Executive Director, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a nonprofit organization in the forefront of free speech and free press issues by providing research, education and legal representation in important First Amendment cases. Dalglish is both an experienced journalist and lawyer. From 1992-1995, she was chair of the Society of Professional Journalists' National Freedom of Information Committee and was named to the inaugural class of the National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame.
ROBERT GELLMAN, an international information and privacy policy expert and consultant working out of Washington, D.C. A graduate of the Yale Law School, Gellman served for 17 years as Chief Counsel to the Subcommittee on Government Information in the House of Representatives. His responsibilities on the subcommittee included privacy, freedom of information and health record privacy issues. Gellman has published extensively on these matters.
ERIC H. JASO, Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice. Jaso also supervises the Criminal Division’s Office of Policy and Legislation. Previously, he served as Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Education and was an Associate Counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr. Jaso was a law clerk to Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
J. WILLIAM LEONARD, Director of the Information Security Oversight Office, an administrative component of the National Archives and Records Administration. Leonard is responsible to the President for policy oversight of the government-wide security classification system and the National Industrial Security Program. He previously served the current administration as Principal Director (Security and Information Operations) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, and in the prior administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Security and Information Operations).
NADINE STROSSEN, President of the American Civil Liberties Union, the nation's largest and oldest civil liberties organization, and Professor of Law at New York Law School. Professor Strossen has written, lectured and practiced law extensively in the areas of constitutional law, civil liberties and international human rights. She has published approximately 250 works in scholarly and general interest publications and was twice named one of "The 100 Most Influential Lawyers In America" by The National Law Journal.
RUTH WEDGWOOD, now on sabbatical leave as Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Professor Wedgwood is currently the Edward B. Burling Professor of International Law and Diplomacy and Director of International Law and Organization at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University. She is a prolific writer, lecturer and commentator on international law and constitutional foreign affairs powers and a senior advisor to the current administration.