(We sometimes privilege offers made in settlement negotiations, for instance). Indeed, the law is full of exclusionary rules that sometimes allow parties to shield information from a decision-maker where we think that shield serves a public purpose.
The redacted report should clearly identify whether the president is seeking to shield information from disclosure based upon an assertion of executive privilege, and redactions to withhold information that is deemed merely "sensitive" should not be accepted without clear justification.
Ed Barocas, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said the broader exemptions were important to allow government workers to give advice but also said it was used as a way to shield information from the public.
"The Bush administration overstepped in its exertion of executive privilege, and may very well try to continue to shield information from the American people after it leaves office," said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, who sits on two committees, Judiciary and Intelligence, that are examining aspects of Mr. Bush's policies.
However, in the last dozen years there have been several major decisions handed down by the Court, including a ruling against President Nixon in which the Justices held that the executive has only a limited privilege to shield information from the courts.
It's the story of encryption, computer science, and cryptology, of the ever-increasing complexity of algorithms designed to shield information from prying eyes and, seemingly inevitably, of their failure.
In addition, although Hogan Marren was designated "independent," its deal with Zenith created a privileged attorney-client relationship with the company, which shielded information from the Department of Education.
The regulator Ofgem has warned energy firms not to shield information about complaints from the public.
Attempts to shield information presented in court from public view must be weighed against the longstanding principle that shining a light on the workings of the judiciary guards against injustice, incompetence or fraud.
"The parties cannot shield information from disclosure merely because it is damaging or of an upsetting nature," Judge John Shepard Wiley Jr. wrote.
But the measure specifically shields the information from the public.
