In freedom of information laws, discretion flows in the direction of disclosure, not in the opposite direction. Agencies make decisions every day of the week. To assume disclosure of records that reveal something about the decision-making process must be routinely withheld because they fall under an exemption, is nothing short of ridiculous. Where an agency can show that revealing the decision-making process will cause an articulable harm, then the agency may have established an acceptable reason for withholding such information. But to say that disclosure will inhibit candor is only to reiterate the long-abandoned argument that the public should not be able to know about what its government does, and that government should be able to operate in secret.
Discretion is an important part of freedom of information laws.
Legislatures realized there would be times when records should not be disclosed, even though they could be disclosed. Such an assessment should also include weighing public interest in disclosure against the interests in withholding the information. But discretion should never be seen as a legislative license to withhold just because the law permits it. Inc. All Rights Reserved.