Document Declassification...
Under the provisions of Executive Order 12958 (Classified
National Security Information), dated 17 April 1995, NSA is reviewing for
declassification all permanently classified documents 25 years or older. This
declassification effort, which NSA has named OPENDOOR, will include
information about all documents declassified and made available to the public
under E.O. 12958. As these documents are declassified, they will be turned over
to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). References about
additional releases to NARA will be added aperiodically.
With the events of September 11th, declassification is problematic at
this point. Documents you will be dealing with may have been declassified or
obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Note that documents which
are declassified are released directly to the NARA. In 1992, NARA established
the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection pursuant to Public Law
102-526. The Collection contains more than 4 1/2 million pages of
assassination-related records, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings
and artifacts.
The Freedom of Information Act establishes a presumption that records in
the possession of agencies and departments of the executive branch of the U.S.
Government are accessible to the people. Before enactment of the FOIA in 1966,
the burden was on the individual to establish a right to examine these
government records. With the passage of the FOIA, the burden of proof shifted
from the individual to the government. Those seeking information are no longer
required to show a need for information. Instead, the `need to know' standard
has been replaced by a `right to know' doctrine. The government now has to
justify the need for secrecy. Many of the documents you will be working with
will have been released as a direct result of the FOIA. Anytime you are in need
of FOIA information the Department of Justice website is a good starting point.
