WASHINGTON - December 15 - Earlier today, the Obama administration released its recommendations for federal government agencies' handling of "controlled-unclassified information" (CUI), namely information that the government finds sensitive but does not meet the standards for designation as "classified." The report includes 40 specific recommendations to standardize the CUI system, facilitate information sharing within government, and, critically, promote government transparency. The Presidential Task Force report is the result of the 90-day review ordered by President Obama last May.
 
The Constitution Project applauds the recommendations designed to promote openness by limiting the use of CUI markings and ensuring that information is only controlled when there is a "compelling requirement" to do so. However, the Project urges the administration to clarify that this system should be governed by a presumption of openness, and to develop additional oversight tools and enforcement mechanisms to ensure that these policy recommendations are effective.
 
"The new Task Force recommendations will go a long way toward promoting transparency and limiting the use of control markings on government documents," said Sharon Bradford Franklin, senior counsel at the Constitution Project. "However, we urge the administration to adopt an explicit presumption of openness, and to put more teeth into its new policy. The CUI reforms should include safeguards such as regular audits and a process for the public to challenge control markings."
 
In July 2009, the Constitution Project's Liberty and Security Committee released Reining in Excessive Secrecy: Recommendations for Reform of the Classification and Controlled Unclassified Information Systems. Many of the recommendations in the CUI Task Force report are consistent with the Project's recommendations in this report. In particular:

• The Project is pleased that the CUI Task Force considered the Constitution Project's report and specifically relied upon it in crafting its recommendations for CUI markings to expire after a specified time period.
• The Project also welcomes the recommendation that CUI markings should have no bearing on determinations of whether a document should be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
• Also critical is the Task Force's recommendation that a CUI marking is not a basis for withholding a document from Congress or the courts.

To view a copy of the Liberty and Security Committee's Reining in Excessive Secrecy, go to:
http://www.constitutionproject.org/newsdetail.asp?id=399