Deck 12: Access to Information

Question 1

The press and public have a First Amendment right of access to records and meetings of the executive branch of government, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Before releasing public records, custodians are usually authorized to require a requester to prove the records will be used for a "public purpose."

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Disclosure of government computer compilations of records poses a greater threat of invading privacy than disclosure of individual records from many locations, the Supreme Court ruled in Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The press and public have access to government records because of citizens' constitutional right to receive information essential to democratic governance.

Question 5

It's unconstitutional for the mayor to deny access to a public press conference to a reporter for the Republican newspaper but allow access to the reporter for the Democratic newspaper.

Question 6

Journalists are the most frequent users of FOI laws

Question 7

"Reverse" FOIA suits, such as Chrysler Corporation v. Brown, establish that companies can require federal administrators to withhold company records from the public.

Question 8

Federal law provides strong protections for the privacy of student educational records.

Question 9

Criminal records compiled on a student at a campus police station at a state university are public records.

Question 10

Open records laws usually provide citizens access to court records.

Question 11

Open records laws usually provide citizens access to legislative records.

Question 12

Open records laws usually provide citizens access to electronic records.

Question 13

Open records laws usually allow custodians to withhold records that would embarrass the government.

Question 14

Reporters embedded with American troops are generally permitted to report the date, time, location and results of completed military missions.

Question 15

More conservative presidents, who campaign for strong national security and smaller government, tend to withhold more government records than more liberal presidents.

Question 16

Open meetings acts usually require government agencies to provide advance notice of public meetings.

Question 17

While journalists have no constitutional right of access to military engagements, the federal law requires the Department of Defense to alert the press before any military engagement.

Question 18

The federal government may waive fees for record requesters who plan to disseminate the records publicly.

Question 19

Journalists have a constitutional right of access to accident scenes.

Question 20

Government officials may review dispatches by journalists embedded with U.S. troops.

Question 21

Congress and the Obama administration jointly concluded democratic governance requires disclosure of photos of Americans abusing war-time prisoners.

Question 22

The press has a constitutional right to inspect prisons and interview prisoners.

Question 23

Federal agencies have 20 days to determine whether they can fulfill a Freedom of Information Request.

Question 24

In McBurney v, Young, the Supreme Court ruled a state can deny access to public records to citizens of other states.

Question 25

In 2009, Congress amended the Homeland Security Act to permit the Secretary of Defense to withhold photographs, films or video of detainees abused by American forces if disclosure would endanger U.S. citizens, military or employees of the U.S.

Question 26

Federal law requires colleges and universities to "immediately notify" the campus community of "a significant emergency or dangerous situation" threatening the health or safety of students or staff.

Question 27

Many universities have lost federal funding because they revealed student records that should have been withheld under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Question 28

A showing of competitive harm is required to exempt data from disclosure under the federal FOIA's fourth exemption.

Question 29

In Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader, the Supreme Court established an explicit legal right for a company to stop an agency from releasing information under the federal FOIA.

Question 30

Lawsuits against federal agencies under the FOIA reached record highs during the Trump administration, in 2017 and 2018.

Question 31

Two cases in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the press and public have no First Amendment right of access to prisons:

A) Pell v. Procunier and Saxbe v. Washington Post
B) Richmond Newspaper v. Virginia and Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
C) Chrysler Corporation v. Brown and Department of the Air Force v. Rose
D) Sheppard v. Maxwell and Saxbe v. Washington Post
E) none of the above

Question 32

For citizens to acquire government records under state and federal open records laws, they usually must:

A) provide the document number and date of publication of the requested records
B) pay reasonable copying fees
C) promise not to sell the records
D) all of the above
E) A and B

Question 33

Judges who review confidential records in camera:

A) take pictures of the records for further study
B) review in their chambers the legitimacy of confidential or secrecy designations on the records
C) inspect the records to see if they are "camera ready" for printing
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 34

"Strong" open records laws are likely to contain all the following provisions EXCEPT:

A) state policy favoring openness
B) narrow exceptions to openness
C) brief time limits within which the government must produce records
D) criminal penalties for officials who accidently release confidential records
E) all of the above

Question 35

_____________ authorizes reporters to be "embedded" with American troops in combat:

A) First Amendment
B) Federal Freedom of Information Act
C) Reporters in Combat Authorization Act
D) Defense Department policy
E) none of the above

Question 36

Open records laws usually provide citizens access to:

A) judicial records
B) legislative records
C) executive branch records
D) all of the above
E) A and C

Question 37

The Obama administration claimed to be more open than the second Bush administration in each of the following ways EXCEPT:

A) Permitting faster declassification of older records
B) Prohibiting administrators from classifying records if they have significant doubt" that classification is necessary
C) Removing from federal agencies the Bush-created Chief Information Officers installed to improve speed and efficiency
D) Decreasing the number of classified documents
E) Reducing agencies' authority to withhold "sensitive" but unclassified national security information

Question 38

It is recommended that letters requesting public records contain all of the following clauses EXCEPT:

A) a clear description of requested records
B) a request that custodians withholding records cite the statutory provisions authorizing the withholding
C) a request that the government state the projected costs in advance
D) a demand that the records request be completed within three months
E) a request for a fee waiver if records will be disseminated to the public

Question 39

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the exemptions protecting privacy in the Federal Freedom of Information Act allow the government to withhold:

A) suicide pictures of a federal official to protect the privacy of surviving family members
B) centralized computer rap sheets, even though the same records could be found with considerable effort in police departments around the country
C) names of American soldiers killed in action
D) all of the above
E) A and B

Question 40

"Educational records" that a state university must withhold under The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act do NOT include the following:

A) charges lodged against a student at the campus police station
B) aggregate data-without names-about the number and locations of violent crimes on and near campus
C) directory information, including a student athlete's name, weight and hometown
D) all of the above may be disclosed
E) none of the above may be disclosed

Question 41

The Supreme Court has ruled citizens and the press have a constitutional right of access to:

A) accident scenes along interstate highways
B) federal prisons
C) war theaters where Americans are fighting
D) courtrooms
E) all of the above

Question 42

The Family Educational and Privacy Protection Act requires high schools and colleges to withhold the following "educational records," EXCEPT:

A) grades
B) student health records
C) most student disciplinary records
D) charges filed at a police department
E) all of the above can be withheld under FERPA

Question 43

Each of the following statements addresses a claim made by open-government organizations about FOIA compliance under the Trump administration, EXCEPT:

A) although the Obama administration's promises of more transparency were largely left unfulfilled, transparency got worse under the Trump administration
B) federal officials made it more difficult to obtain records like calendars of executive branch officials and logs of White House visitors
C) agencies implemented rules to frustrate the timely fulfillment of FOIA requests
D) FOIA lawsuits against federal agencies rose to nearly 10 times what they were a decade before
E) all of the above

Question 44

Generally, under state open records laws:

A) public officials who fail to comply can be punished with civil or criminal penalties, but stiff penalties are seldom imposed
B) civil or criminal penalties for failing to comply are not on the books
C) courts are not permitted to award attorney fees for successful lawsuits challenging improper denials of access
D) A & B only
E) all of the above

Question 45

In the 2019 criminal prosecution of a former press secretary to Atlanta's mayor for violating the Georgia Open Records Act:

A) the former press secretary was convicted by a jury and ordered to pay a $1,500 fine
B) the penalty was seen as rare by many public records advocates
C) in response to a public records request, the former press secretary told another official to "drag this out as long as possible" and to "provide information in the most confusing format available"
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 46

Records. Describe how the Society of Professional Journalists would evaluate the following definition of public records in an open records act: "A public record is a written memorial of a final action." What would be an alternative definition the society might prefer?

Question 47

Embedded journalists. Hundreds of journalists were embedded with American troops during
Operation Iraqi Freedom. Under what legal authority did the journalists accompany American troops? The first amendment? A federal statute? Other? Did journalists have complete freedom to publish and broadcast whatever they chose to report?

Question 48

Pell v. Procunier and Saxbe v. Washington Post. What is the significance of Pell and Saxbe?

Question 49

Electronic Freedom of Information Act. Why is EFOIA important?

Question 50

National Archives and Records Administration v. Favish. How did the Supreme Court expand the already broad privacy exemption in the Federal Freedom of Information Act in its decision in National Archives and Records Administration v. Favish?

Question 51

Public access to government records depends on several provisions of open records laws, including the (l) stated purpose of the law, (2) how government agencies and records are defined, (3) the time allowed for government responses to requests, (4) the fees charged, and the (5) penalties imposed if governments illegally withhold records. Briefly outline how any four of the above five provisions should be framed in an open records statute designed to provide maximum access to public records. Briefly describe how these four provisions in the federal Freedom of Information Act serve or fail to serve public access to government information