Pentagon Footing Bill For Study To Limit Public Data
Jeffrey Addicott, who heads the school's Center for Terrorism Law, said the purpose of the yearlong project is to produce a "model" statute that state governments or Congress can adopt to prevent terrorists from getting sensitive information.
"The mission is to balance increase in security with civil liberties, which are precious," said Addicott, a former legal adviser in the Army Special Forces. But "in a time of war, 'balance' goes toward security."
President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress enacted the Freedom of Information Act on July 4, 1966, bolstering the rights of citizens to gain access to government records.
Addicott said the proposal originated with his center. The $1 million grant will be administered by the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y.
Bill Piatt, dean of St. Mary's Law School, said the center's work, while paid for by the government, is completely independent.
"What we are doing is not political," Piatt said. "We are not enacting the statutes; we are not lobbying politicians. We are doing academic research."
Some scholars, while intrigued, said they also are troubled.
"My first response is that this is a reasonable thing for any nation to do in the post-9-11 arena," said Char Miller, a history professor at Trinity University, referring to efforts to protect infrastructure. But "it does need to be very cautious."