Similarly, section 3(f) of the Act could require disclosure, without regard to executive privilege, after 25 years of the date of enactment. Accordingly, I have signed the Act on the understanding that the public disclosure of records may be postponed where necessary to protect executive privilege. I cannot abdicate my constitutional responsibility to protect such information when necessary. These exceptions protect the confidentiality of certain deliberative material, sensitive law enforcement information, and other privileged information, but there may be circumstances that require the postponement of the disclosure of documents beyond what is expressly provided for under the Act. Section 4 provides that records should not be disclosed if doing so would cause identifiable or describable harm to national security or law enforcement, invade personal privacy, risk substantial harm to cooperating witnesses or confidential informants, or interfere with ongoing law enforcement proceedings.
#Cold case files 2018 free#
Investigators and prosecutors must be free to conduct candid internal deliberations, and persons identified in investigatory files-such as victims, witnesses, and others-must be protected from unwarranted reprisals. In any event, my responsibility to protect these categories of information comes from the Constitution and cannot be limited by statute.Ībsent this protection, certain interests the Act seeks to safeguard, such as the integrity of the law enforcement process, could be harmed. It does provide some protection for law enforcement and national security information, albeit on narrow grounds. Section 4 does not explicitly protect records containing confidential executive branch deliberations, which fall within the deliberative process component of executive privilege. I fully support the goals of the Act however, it raises several serious constitutional concerns.įirst, section 4 of the Act, which enumerates exceptions from the general requirement to release cold case records, could be read to compel disclosure of material covered by executive privilege. These records, however, include information in the possession of any branch of the Government and could encompass even recently created records that "relate to" alleged civil rights violations from that period. The Act provides for the review and, where possible, the release of records of criminal investigations relating to alleged Federal civil rights violations between 19 ("cold case records"). 3191, the "Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018" (the "Act").