THE HIGH COST OF PUBLIC INFORMATION

The Bush administration has made a habit of keeping public
information from the very public that owns it. A good example can be
found at the United States Department of Education. After dragging
its feet for months, the agency has asked a tiny nonprofit group to
pay a ruinous sum for information on the impact of a law that bars
students who have committed drug offenses from receiving federal
grants and loans.

The law, which cuts off former offenders from receiving financial
help even when the crimes they committed were minor and long ago, has
become a subject of intense debate. Congress recently approved
changes that should moderate some of the law's most destructive
effects. Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a small nonprofit group,
asked the Department of Education to provide a simple state-by-state
breakdown of the people who have been denied aid under the law so
far. But the department demanded more than $4,000 for this
information, an amount the group clearly could not afford. The
government argued that the request was not in the public interest and
implied that Students for Sensible Drug Policy had some commercial
interest in seeking it. These claims are both implausible.

The fee represents an increasingly common tactic that is used by the
government to discourage public inquiries. The student group has
acquired pro bono representation and filed suit in federal court.
Members of Congress could end the battle by requesting the
information on the group's behalf. Beyond that, Congress should
reinforce the Freedom of Information law -- which was meant to
prevent this kind of thing in the first place.