Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Indiana Law Journal

2016

173 (2d Cir. 2014)

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Law

Cook V. Nara Versus The Public’S Right To Know, Sarah Lamdan Jan 2016

Cook V. Nara Versus The Public’S Right To Know, Sarah Lamdan

Indiana Law Journal

In Cook v. National Archives and Records Administration , the court misapplied the Freedom of Information Act’s (FOIA) privacy exemption to hide presidential records, favoring secrecy over the public interest. The court set up a double standard by protecting George W. Bush and Richard Cheney’s library reference requests—even though, under laws created during the Bush administration, librarians would face possible prison sentences for refusing to turn over similar requests.

In 2013, a Gawker reporter named John Cook made a FOIA request to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to get more information on “who’s digging through what in former …