The Salt Institute Case
23 Mar 2006 in Information Quality, Litigation
The Washington Post's Cindy Skrzycki reports on fallout from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on Salt Institute & Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Court ruled against the petitioners, who had asserted that DHHS had violated the federal Information Quality Act by denying petitioners requests for the correction of certain information. Here are the relevant administrative documents:
- The federal Information Quality Act (IQA)
- Government-wide guidelines implementing the IQA issued in 2002 by the Office of Management and Budget
- Implementing guidelines issued by DHHS
- The Salt Institute's petition to DHHS
- DHHS' response to the petition (also on Salt Institute website)
- The Salt Institute's administrative appeal ("request for reconsideration")
- DHHS' interim response and final response to the appeal
The Salt Institute, along with the United States Chamber of Commerce, announced on March 31, 2004, that it had sued DHHS seeking release of data they believed was being illegally withheld. A companion press release by USCC is here. The complaint is summarized here.
On November 15, 2004, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the case, stating that the the petitioners lacked standing to sue and that the Information Quality Act did not create a private right of action. OMB Watch has posted a facsimile copy of the opinion. The Salt Institute and USCC appealed to the 4th Circuit, which upheld the District Court.
According to Skrzycki, the opinion "delighted opponents of the data quality review process." USCC vice president William Kovacs is quoted as saying the court "obliterated" the IQA.
Neutral Source will post more details on the issues raised by the Salt Institute case.