1.  A Higher Standard for State Secrets

The White House will announce a new policy today requiring career prosecutors and the attorney general to approve any requests to keep information hidden only if its release would significantly harm "national defense or foreign relations." In the past, a lower standard of proof was required and only one official had to agree with an agency's claim that releasing certain information would put state secrets at risk. The Bush administration was a big fan of claiming these types of exemptions, a trend that, to the chagrin of liberals, the current occupants of the White House seemed set to continue. But, starting Oct. 1, the Obama administration wants to make sure people know that state-secret claims are made rarely and only when there's strong evidence to back them up. The new policy should make it harder for the state-secrets claim to be used as a way to cover up government misdeeds. And, theoretically, it will be harder for government lawyers to argue that the mere subjects of some lawsuits are too sensitive to be discussed.

Read original story in The Washington Post | Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009