High Court Will Review Ruling On Cheney Task Force Records
Decision a Blow to Groups Seeking Information on Energy Policy
By Charles Lane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 16, 2003; Page A03
The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will intervene in a dispute between Vice President Cheney and two nonprofit organizations seeking information about the internal operations of the controversial White House energy policy task force he headed in 2001.
Setting up a high-stakes clash at the court over the Bush administration's tight-lipped approach to information, the court granted Cheney's request to review a lower court's order requiring him to show some of the material to the groups.
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The court's action was a blow to the organizations -- Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, and the Sierra Club, a liberal environmental group -- that are seeking access to task force documents. The Sierra Club's brief had told the justices that the White House was stalling and that the Supreme Court should not help it by hearing the case.
"By the time the court decides this
it will be two years of complete stoppage that they've won," said Alan B. Morrison of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, who represents the Sierra Club. "In that sense, they've succeeded."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1591-2003Dec15.html