I was surprised that no one from Central New York had picked up on the news about the Syracuse University case recently decided by our own Judge Norman Mordue, now Chief US District Court Judge here. [link is a pdf.] A search of recent diaries turned up nothing.
The case involved an FOIA request for the names of some 900,000 federal employees for the T.R.A.C. center at Syracuse University, a request that has been honored in the past since 1989 and until 2004 was fully granted. Beginning in 2004, the Office of Personnel Management redacted some 40% of the names, and in 2005 denied the request altogether.
TRAC sued in federal court, and lost. Let's make the jump.
This was the centered, above the fold headline story today in the Syracuse Post-Standard for October 16th.
Here's some tidbits:
Mordue upheld the Office of Personnel Management's decision to withhold the information in his 35 page ruling citing both a violation of personal privacy and concerns over national security.
National Security?! TRAC is about creating a database that tracks the staffing and payroll of federal agencies and has been insturmental in uncovering inefficiency and poor management...remember the FBI scandal from 1997? TRAC's efforts were very valuable in exposing the mismanagement then.
TRAC gathers information and provides it to public interest groups, news organizations and others interested in tracking trends,monitoring departments, and making sure public funds are well spent, Burnham said.
"Burnham" is David Burnham who is co-director of T.R.A.C. along with Sue Long, the other co-director.
Some of the departments that have exemptions TRAC official find puzzling are the Peace Corps, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife, and Veterans Benefits. "We are not entitled to know anything about appeals officers in the in the claims offices for veterans," she [Long] said. "It makes no sense. In some cases even the public affairs officer's names are redacted."
What we have here is a plain stonewalling by the government to prevent any sort of accountability whatsoever. Without names, there can be no accountability, and we ourselves here at Daily Kos have often said that. Mr. Burnham also makes this clear
A watchdog has been blinded by a judge whom I and many in Onondaga County greatly admire. I swear Norm Mordue was born with a robe and gavel! He is a judge's judge. But, as the story says, the judge fell for the government waving the flag of terrorism.
Judge Mordue is silent as he expects an appeal, and I hope some of the legal eagles here at Daily Kos and those who we are friendly with will look at TRAC's chances of success in the 2nd US Circuit at Rochester.