SCHOOL THESIS

E.O. 12065 continued automatic declassification, enacted a policy of using a less
restrictive classification designation when there is reasonable doubt as to the
classification existed, changed the “confidential” definition to require “identifiable
damage” rather than simply damage, and established the Information Security Oversight
Office (ISOO) to ensure compliance with the order. A more conservative approach to
classification was adopted in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan. He issued Executive
Order 12356, National Security Information, which expanded the levels of classified
information to:
1) the vulnerabilities or capabilities of systems, installations, projects, or
plans relating to national security;
2) cryptology; [or]
3) a confidential source…. 94
Classifiers were instructed to err on the side of classification; 95 and automatic
declassification requirements (after a certain time period or event) were removed.
Furthermore, E.O. 12356 removed the requirement for the classifier to describe
“identifiable damage,” and the executive order allowed for reclassification of national
security information if the declassified information required protection in the interest of
national security and could be reasonably recovered. 96 Regarding E.O. 12356, Steven
Garfinkel, the Director of the General Services Administration’s Information Security
Oversight Office, states, “… our oversight experience shows that over the past decade the
number of decisions to classify information is relatively constant. The most important
variable is not the particular information security system in place, but rather the status of
world affairs.” 97 Around the time the executive order went into effect, the U.S. and North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and the Soviet Union were embroiled in the
Cold War and stockpiles of nuclear weapons in both countries had swelled. President
94 Exec. Order No. 12356, 47 FR 14874 and 15557 (April 2, 1982) §1.3.(a),
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12356.html
95 Ibid.
96 Ibid.
97 Gerald A. Schroeder, “An Overview of Executive Order 12356,” FOIA Update 3, no. 3 (1982),
http://www.justice.gov/oip/blog/foia-update-guest-article-overview-executive-order-12356
29