===================== HES POSTING ===================== This news from the courtroom concerns the particular case of Harry Dexter White and a general issue between historians and the law. Recall, from our "Censorship" thread: 4 Nov 1997, Robert Leeson cited William Manchester: > > 1. The Executive Director of the IMF (Harry Dexter White) and > Roosevelt's special assistant (Lauchlin Currie) were accused of > treachery. 4 Nov, Brad DeLong replied regarding Harry White, one of his heroes. 11 Nov, Roger Sandilands reported (posted by Paul Wendt) > that Stanley Fischer has asked a historian at the IMF to look into the > McCarthy episode in relation to White and Currie. ----Paul Wendt, Asst.Editor --------------------------------------------------------------------- NCC Washington Update, vol. 3, #49, December 18, 1997 by Page Putnam Miller, Director of the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History <[log in to unmask]> Appeals Court Rules on Opening of Grand Jury Records of Historical Value On December 15 the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City ruled in the case of Bruce Craig v. United States of America (Case No. 96-6264). While the panel of Judges Kearse, Calabresi, and Munson denied Bruce Craig access to the specific records that he sought, the Court made clear that historical interests are appropriate grounds for the release of grand jury material. The opinion states that "It is, therefore, entirely conceivable that in some situations historical or public interest alone could justify the release of grand jury information." The Appeals Court decided, however, that in this particular case disclosure "would involve some witnesses who are still alive" and that "the public interest and other factors involved in the petitioner's case did not justify disclosure." Craig, a PhD student at American University, filed a petition in 1996, that was denied by the lower court. His petition called for the releasing of a historically significant 79-page transcript in the grand jury records pertaining to a McCarthy era espionage investigation of Harry Dexter White, a high-ranking Treasury Department official accused of being a Communist spy. The American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the National Council on Public History, and the Society of American Archivists filed an amici brief in support of Craig's petition. The amici brief stressed the public's compelling interest in knowing its own history, in observing the operation of the criminal justice system, and in establishing a precedent in which the public's interest in historic grand jury records can justify the unsealing those records. This opinion breaks new ground in firmly establishing historical interests as grounds for seeking access to grand jury records. And the opinion goes a step further in establishing some guidance for determining the "special circumstances" when sensitive grand jury records should be unsealed for historical reasons. The opinion outlines eight factors for courts to use in future deliberations. These include exploration of the following issues: identity of the party seeking disclosure, whether the defendant to the grand jury proceedings or the government opposes the disclosure, why the disclosure is being sought, the status of the principals in the grand jury proceedings and their families, the extent to which the desired material -- either permissibly or impermissibly -- has been previously made public, whether witnesses to the grand jury proceedings who might be affected by disclosure are still alive, and the additional need for maintaining secrecy in the particular case in question. In elaborating on this guidance, the opinion stated: "the passage of time erodes many of the justifications for continued secrecy." * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NCC invites you to redistribute the NCC Washington Updates. A complete backfile of these reports is maintained by H-Net. See World Wide Web: http://h-net.msu.edu/~ncc/ * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]