Legal Research

From today's Chronicle of Higher Education -- See article (subscription required)

"In one of his first official acts as president, Barack Obama has overturned a controversial executive order in which former President George W. Bush limited public access to presidential records."

EO 13233 greatly expanded the power of current and former chief executives as well as their heirs to restrict access to their official records.   In a nutshell, EO 13233 gutted the Presidential Records Act of 1978 which the legislature passed  in response to President Richard Nixon's blatant and unprecedented abuse of executive power.  

Historians will remember the uproar that ensued when the documents created by President Ronald Reagan's Administration were not released as originally scheduled under the PRA.  Instead, both President Bushes blocked the release of Reagan's and his former Vice-President's papers, restricting access to public records by invoking EO 13233. 

Interestingly enough, Reagan had conveniently paved the way for EO 13233 by issuing EO12667, a 1989 amendment to the PRA requiring the President's formal approval prior to full disclosure of executive records.  In 2007, the House attempted to restore the PRA and passed the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 (H.R.1255) with a veto-proof majority (333-93).  This bill was met with resistance in the Senate, however, and quietly died.

Read the White House announcement and weep for joy!