“Freedom of Information: The Legacy and the Future”

Robert J. Freeman has been executive director of the Committee on Open Government since 1976. Prior to his appointment, he served as counsel. He received a B.S. in foreign service from Georgetown University and his J.D. from New York University. Freeman has spoken before numerous government-related organizations, bar associations and media groups, and at various colleges and universities. He has also discussed open government laws and concepts in Canada, the Far East, Latin America and Eastern Europe. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the Friend of the Free Press Award from the New York State Society of Newspaper Editors; the First Amendment Award from the New York Press Association; the First Amendment Award from the New York City Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists; and the Governor Alfred E. Smith Award from the Empire State Capital Area Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration for outstanding individual service and initiative exemplifying superior management and administration. He was made a fellow of the State Academy for Public Administration; was cited in Empire State Report as one of 25 Empire State residents whose public service, determination, idealism or gut instincts resulted in sweeping improvements in the lives of fellow New Yorkers in the past 25 years; was given the Distinguished Public Service Award by the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany; and received the Award for Excellence in Public Service from the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Attorneys in Public Service. He is currently an adjunct professor at the Albany Law School and teaches the only course in an American law school on public access to government information.The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media (IJPM) at Syracuse University has announced its Spring 2010 lecture series on “Law, Politics and the Media.”Today’s American judicial system operates in a complex environment of legal principle, political pressure and media coverage. The series provides an introduction to the court system and its environment as a single, integrated subject of study and features speakers from a variety of legal, political and media backgrounds, including practicing lawyers, published authors, leading scholars and court researchers. “Law, Politics and the Media” lectures are free and open to the public. They take place from 3:50–5:10 p.m. in Room 204 of the Syracuse University College of Law. Paid parking is available in SU pay lots.The lecture series is part of an interdisciplinary course on law, politics and the media cross-listed between the College of Law, the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The course is taught by SU professors Keith Bybee (IJPM director) and Roy Gutterman (IJPM associate director), and funded through support from the John Ben Snow Foundation and the Carnegie Corp. of New York.