Thousands of college students are soaking up the sunshine this week for spring break. They’re probably already on their third case of Natural Light and on the way to a sunburn a redneck would be proud of.
Last week a different kind of sunshine was exhibited, not at Panama City Beach, but in government buildings across the U.S. I’m not talking about senators butt-chugging margaritas, I’m talking about Sunshine Week.
Sunshine Week is the attempt of government transparency advocates at the American Society of News Editors to bring light to areas of government that are kept hidden from public view.
This mission has become even more important ever since revelations from former NSA contractor and current international hobo Edward Snowden confirmed that, yes, the U.S. government systematically lies to its people.
The White House showed its recognition of the week in the only way it could, by changing the rules for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The Office of Administration will no longer be required by the Freedom of Information Act to release information to the public. This adds it to a laundry list of other exempted White House entities, including the Office of National AIDS Policy, the National Security Council and the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
The exemption further muddles the face of an administration which many are calling the least transparent in recent history. These claims stand in stark contrast to the administration’s statements, which insist it’s the most transparent in history, as pledged by President Barack Obama when he came to office.
There is little to no evidence to show he’s upheld that pledge. A study from the Associated Press released last week showed the administration denied more FOIA requests and suppressed more documents than any other, beating its own record from last year.
The requests that do make it into the system will sometimes languish for decades, according to Nate Jones at the National Security Archive. If a request finally makes it through the “black hole” of referrals, the government may produce nothing more than a Wikipedia article for the requester who wanted government documents.
Despite public statements to the contrary, there’s no chance the White House wasn’t deliberately trying to spit in the face of government transparency with this move.
The rule change for FOIA requests was effectively approved by the courts six years ago under the Bush administration. That means the White House had plenty of time to trample on transparent government advocates during any other week, but instead chose to give them an executive middle finger.
This recent flashpoint for transparency probably isn’t going to affect any serious information disclosures. The Office of Administration releases things like the White House beer recipes and staff salaries — not exactly life changing information. Press Secretary Josh Earnest also stated they will continue to release these things, despite not having a FOIA division requiring them to do so.
The little things do matter in the grand scheme of overall government transparency, though. To use an example from history, consider Cardinal Richelieu of King Louis XIII in 17th century France.
Knowing the king would face a revolt if he revoked a great amount of noble privileges at once, Richelieu suggested he take something away every year. By the time Louis’ subjects realized what he was up to, they were already too weak, and the Fronde rebellion was put down with relative ease.
In the same way, American citizens ought to vehemently oppose any efforts to restrict their access to government documents. If they don’t, the government will have free reign to trample over their civil liberties without so much as the courtesy to admit they’re doing it.
James Richards is a 20-year-old mass communication sophomore from New Orleans. You can follow him on Twitter @JayEllRichy.