SEPTEMBER 2001

11 - On the day of the attacks, reporters and photographers take advantage of mostly open access to document the destruction and the relief efforts. But some restrictions on newsgathering follow as New York police officers begin restricting passage into the area that would be known as "Ground Zero," and the Federal Aviation Administration shuts down the entire American airspace, leaving news aircraft grounded for months.

14- The FAA removes public information from its enforcement files, including information on its Web site about security violations.

21- Chief Immigration Judge Michael Creppy issues a memorandum ordering closure of all deportation and immigration proceedings.

OCTOBER

2- The Department of Defense asks defense firms to "use discretion" in their official statements about "even seemingly innocuous" industrial information. The department says statistical, production, contracting and delivery information can convey a "tremendous amount" of information to hostile intelligence forces, The Washington Post reports.

Also on this date, the Internal Revenue Service ends public access to its reading room except by appointment and with an escort.

4- Air Force procurement officers are instructed not to discuss "any of our programs" with the media. However, the Air Force retreats from that position, according to a Washington Post report, and on Oct. 10 announces: "We will continue to respond to inquiries from the media."

5- A White House directive to the CIA and FBI directors and the secretaries of State, Treasury, Defense and Justice narrows the list of congressional leaders entitled to briefings on classified law enforcement information. The White House and Congress later compromise on the briefings.

7- U.S. attacks on Afghanistan begin.

The U.S. military buys exclusive rights to satellite imagery of Afghanistan from Space Imaging, a Colorado-based company, even though the government's own satellites reputedly provide much greater resolution. In February, the images again become available to the public.

Also, by this date, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics has taken down from its Web site the National Transportation Atlas Databases and the North American Transportation Atlas, which environmentalists had used to assess impact of transportation proposals. The Office of Pipeline Safety has taken down the pipeline-mapping system. Over the next few months, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency of NASA and other agencies remove materials from their sites.

10- In a conference call with broadcast network executives, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice warns that videotapes from Osama bin Laden and his henchmen could be used to frighten Americans, gain supporters and send messages about future terrorist attacks.

12 - Attorney General John Ashcroft issues a memorandum revoking most of the openness instructions of a memorandum by former Attorney General Janet Reno.

In addition, at the request of the U.S. Geological Survey, the superintendent of documents asks librarians at federal depository libraries to destroy CD-ROMs containing details of surface water supplies in the United States. The Government Printing Office has never before made such a request.

16 - President Bush issues a lengthy executive order concerning the protection of the nation's critical infrastructure, the web of services and facilities that exist to keep the nation functioning, setting up a voluntary public-private partnership involving corporate and nongovernmental organizations.

17 - The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and others send a letter urging Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to activate pool coverage, place reporters among troops and pressure allies to grant visas to American journalists covering the war in Afghanistan.

18 - Federal Freedom of Information officers and specialists meet with co-directors of the Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy to review the new Attorney General FOIA memo and to receive instructions on using FOIA exemptions to withhold information that agencies feel might disclose vulnerabilities to terrorists.

Also, Defense Department employees are instructed to "exercise great caution in discussing information related to DOD work, regardless of their duties." They are told not to conduct any work-related conversations in common areas, public places, while commuting or over unsecured electronic circuits.

26 - The USA PATRIOT Act is enacted, thereby expanding the FBI's ability to obtain records through secret court orders and giving government investigators greater authority to track e-mail and telephone communications and to eavesdrop on those conversations.

29 - A coalition of civil rights groups, including the Reporters Committee, files a formal FOI Act request to obtain information about more than 1,000 non-citizen "detainees" held in the United States. Also, six members of Congress write a letter to the Justice Department, urging that the information be released.

NOVEMBER

8 - The Justice Department announces that it will no longer release a tally of the number of detainees held on American soil.

13 - Bush issues a Military Order, stating that suspected terrorists could be tried by military tribunals. No provision is made in the order for public access to the proceedings.

16 - Hustler publisher Larry Flynt files a lawsuit against Rumsfeld, claiming the Pentagon violates American journalists' First Amendment rights by denying them access to the battlefield.

26 - At a news conference, Ashcroft says releasing names of detainees would provide valuable information to Osama bin Laden and would violate the privacy rights of detainees held as a result of September 11. Information on other Immigration and Naturalization Service detainees is available on an 800 telephone number.

27 - Journalists join U.S. troops in combat for the first time since the start of the war.

Justice officials release information about those charged with crimes in connection with September 11 investigations and releases information about the nations of origin of immigration detainees, but still will not release names.

28 - Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff tells the Senate Judiciary Committee he knows of no specific law that would bar the release of the names of the detainees.

DECEMBER

5 - The Reporters Committee and 15 other groups file a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, alleging that it violated the Freedom of Information Act by refusing to release information about detainees held in the U.S. The Justice Department eventually publishes a list of the names of 93 people. For the rest of 548 detainees still in custody, it gives only places of birth, charges against them and dates of arrest.

6 - Ashcroft reiterates before the Senate Judiciary Committee that "out of respect for their privacy, and concern for saving lives, we will not publicize the names of those detained."

U.S. Marines quarantine reporters and photographers in a warehouse to prevent them from viewing American troops killed or injured by a stray bomb near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

10 - The president signs an executive order empowering the secretary of health and human services to classify information as "secret."

13 - News organizations air videotape of Osama bin Laden boasting about terrorist attacks.

14 - Representatives of the Global Relief Foundation, an Islamic charity suspected of funding terrorism, are tipped off to an FBI raid when New York Times reporters call for comment, according to statements made later by the charity.

16 - Knight Ridder news service reports that the Department of Justice inflated its reports of terrorist activities for years for budget reasons and continued the practice even after September 11 "when attacks underscored the horror of real terrorism." Past figures included incidents of erratic mentally ill behavior, drunkenness on airlines and food riots in prisons. Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) ask the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to audit the department's terrorism list.

In addition, the Federation of American Scientists reports that the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, an agency charged with oversight of the U.S. Department of Energy, halted all public access to technical documents it obtained from DOE.

19 - The FAA restores general aviation access to airspace above the nation's 30 largest metropolitan areas. News aircraft return to the skies.

27 - The Pentagon disbands pool coverage and allows open coverage in Afghanistan.

Also, the Bush administration announces that captured Taliban and al-Qaida fighters will be held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and refuses to reveal their identities or nationalities.

28 - The White House issues a statement citing "the president's constitutional authority to withhold (from Congress) information the disclosure of which could impair foreign relations, the national security, the deliberative processes of the executive or the performance of the executive's constitutional duties" as well as the CIA director's responsibility to "protect intelligence sources and methods and other exceptionally sensitive matters."

JANUARY 2002

8 - A federal judge in Washington, D.C., rules against Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, who claimed U.S. journalists have a First Amendment right to accompany troops into battle.

10 - The Pentagon orders troops to not allow photographers to transmit images of prisoners in Afghanistan.

13 - John H. Marburger III, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology policy, tells the Associated Press that the Bush administration is considering whether to restrict distribution of government documents on germ warfare. The picture of biology they present is nearly 50 years old, he argues.

The AP also reports that Dr. Harry G. Dangerfield, a retired Army colonel, is preparing a report for the military calling for reclassification of 200 reports that he said are "cookbooks" for making weapons from germs.

16 - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issues a notice seeking public comment about how it makes public the informational filings it receives involving critical infrastructure. The notice marks FERC's concern that information it had taken off its Web site would still be available under FOI Act requests. The notice suggests measures such as nondisclosure agreements and "need to know" disclosures.

18 - In Alexandria, Va., U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema denies Court TV and C-SPAN's motion to broadcast or record the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.

22 - The American Civil Liberties Union's New Jersey chapter files suit seeking names of detainees held in New Jersey county jails.

28 - The Detroit Free Press files a lawsuit in federal court in Michigan to oppose the closing of deportation proceedings of a Muslim man accused of terrorism.

29 - The ACLU, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and The Detroit News file a second lawsuit in federal court in Michigan to oppose the closing of deportation proceedings.

30 - President Bush outlines Citizen Corps, touted as a program "which will enable Americans to participate directly in homeland security efforts in their own communities." The program includes Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information Prevention System) which the administration described as enabling "millions of American transportation workers, postal workers, and public utility employees to identify and report suspicious activities linked to terrorism and crime."

FEBRUARY

2 - The Tennessean in Nashville reports that the U.S. Air Force base in Tullahoma, Tenn., asked the state to stop taking detailed aerial photographs used to create a geographic information system.

19 - News organizations report that the Defense Department's new "Office of Strategic Influence," created to influence public opinion abroad, plans to plant disinformation in foreign and U.S. media.

20 - After public outcry, Rumsfeld announces that the Office of Strategic Influence will not lie to the public or plant disinformation in the foreign or U.S. media.

A federal interagency group, the National Response team, begins the process of restricting public access to "sensitive" government documents that include plans for responding to releases of hazardous materials.

22 - The Government Accounting Office files suit against the White House for failing to release information to Congress about Vice President Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force.

26 - Rumsfeld closes the Office of Strategic Influence.

27 - A federal judge in Washington, D.C., orders the Department of Energy to release records from Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force.

28 - Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) asks the General Accounting Office to examine how federal agencies enforce the FOI Act after Ashcroft's Oct. 12 memorandum.

MARCH

4 - Rumsfeld announces that the Pentagon embedded American reporters among troops in raids in eastern Afghanistan, the first time during the war.

5 - A second federal judge in Washington, D.C., orders seven federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, to release records from Cheney's Energy Task Force.

Also, lawsuits filed by The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press seeking access to the deportation hearing of Rabih Haddad are consolidated into Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft.

6 - A coalition of lawyers file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New Jersey on behalf of North Jersey Media Group Inc. and the New Jersey Law Journal, challenging the constitutionality of the Creppy Memorandum regarding closed immigration proceedings.

7 - The House Government Reform Committee edits its FOI guide to reject instructions in the Oct. 12 Ashcroft memorandum and calls for "the fullest possible" disclosure.

19 - Military police seize a videotape from a Fox News cameraman shooting a traffic stop near the Pentagon. Officials said they confiscated the tape because the cameraman was on government land where photography is not permitted unless journalists have an official escort. The tape was returned the next day.

Also, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card orders agencies to protect "sensitive but unclassified" information. Accompanying memoranda from other agencies spell out how.

21 - Rumsfeld announces rules that will be used for military tribunals.

26 - Judge Arthur D'Italia of the Jersey City, N.J., Superior Court orders names of federal prisoners jailed in Hudson and Passaic County released under the state's open records law.

APRIL

3 - U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmonds in Detroit rules that across-the-board closure of immigration hearings is unconstitutional and the detention hearings of Rabih Haddad should be open. The judge orders the immigration court to release transcripts of prior deportation proceedings against Haddad.

10 - U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati (6th Cir.) issues a temporary stay of Edmonds' order.

18 - The Sixth Circuit lifts the stay on Edmonds' order, finding that there is little chance that releasing the Haddad transcripts will harm national security.

Also, the INS issues interim rules requiring state jailers to keep secret the names of federal detainees even if the names would be open under state law.

19 - The Justice Department says it no longer will try to block the release of the Haddad immigration hearing transcripts.

26 - In Alexandria, Va., Judge Brinkema rules that pleadings in the Moussaoui terrorism case will not be available on the court Web site unless Moussaoui consents to the posting.

30 - U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in New York rules that the material witness statute may not be used to hold a witness merely to testify before a grand jury.

MAY

8 - Authorities arrest U.S. citizen Jose Padilla, who is accused of plotting to use a "dirty bomb," as a material witness.

14 - CBS airs a portion of the tape "The Slaughter of the Spy-Journalist, the Jew Daniel Pearl," despite requests from the State Department that it consider the "sensitivities of Mr. Pearl's family." Anchor Dan Rather defended the broadcast as necessary to "understand the full impact and danger of the propaganda war being waged."

17 - The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court issues a ruling critical of the government for a number of "misstatements and omissions" in FISA applications, and said it had violated court orders regarding information sharing between investigators and prosecutors. The secret court's secret ruling is released by senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in late August.

21 - An INS rule that authorizes INS judges to issue protective orders and accept documents under seal takes effect.

28 - ProHosters, an Internet company in Sterling, Va., reposts the Pearl murder video with a note saying Americans should decide for themselves if they should watch it. A few days earlier, the FBI had contacted several Internet sites that posted the Pearl video and threatened obscenity charges if they did not remove it.

29 - In the New Jersey Media Group case, U.S. District Judge John Bissell rules that the across-the-board closure of immigration proceedings is unconstitutional.

Also, Judge Brinkema rules that forensic psychological evaluation of Moussaoui will be kept under seal.

30 - U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan in the Eastern District of Virginia denies a motion by the Tampa Tribune and The New York Times to unseal search warrant affidavits issued as part of the investigation of University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian.

JUNE

9 - President Bush signs an order identifying Jose Padilla as an "enemy combatant," allowing the government to transfer Padilla to military custody.

11 - Judge Brinkema grants a motion for an order declaring that sensitive aviation security information will not be disclosed during the Moussaoui terrorism criminal proceedings.

12 - A New Jersey appeals panel rules that new federal INS rules prohibiting state release of names of federal detainees trump the state's open records law, which would require disclosure.

13 - The INS publishes a proposed rule to require registration and fingerprinting of visitors to the U.S. if they are from a nation that poses a "security risk."

19 - U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, overseeing the case of John Walker Lindh in Virginia, issues an order noting that a "national periodical had somehow obtained access to information relating to this case that the Court had placed under seal and ordered not to be disclosed" and orders the government to investigate the leak.

20 - Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) and Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) — chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees — ask Attorney General Ashcroft to investigate the leak to CNN and other media of classified information from a congressional panel's closed-door meeting with National Security Agency officials.

24 - The federal judge in the Moussaoui case grants a motion to withhold addresses of prospective witnesses.

28 - The U.S. Supreme Court issues a stay of Judge Bissell's order in the New Jersey Media Group case without an opinion, leaving "special interest" immigration cases closed until a final decision is issued.

JULY

10 - Federal prosecutors say they have ordered the Justice Department's inspector general to investigate whether government officials leaked to Newsweek e-mails concerning the case against John Walker Lindh.

11- U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey in New York rules that the government may detain material witnesses during investigations, contradicting Judge Scheindlin's April 30 order.

12 - U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria, Va., orders CNN freelance reporter Robert Young Pelton to testify in a hearing for Lindh. The order becomes moot on July 15, when Lindh pleads guilty to two charges of aiding the Taliban and carrying explosives. In a written order that can be used as precedent, Ellis says Lindh's argument that Pelton was acting as a government agent when he interviewed Lindh is "non-frivolous."

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld tells his staff in an internal memo that government leaks of classified information provide al-Qaida with information and puts American lives at risk. The memo was written a week after The New York Times reported on a classified military document that discussed a possible U.S. attack on Iraq. The day before the memo, USA Today wrote about a draft Iraqi invasion plan calling for using up to 300,000 U.S. troops.

Guards and a federal agent detain National Review reporter Joel Mowbray for 30 minutes after a State Department briefing and demand that he disclose a source and answer questions about his reporting on a classified diplomatic cable.

The government moves to intervene in Mariani v. United Airlines, a personal injury suit against the airlines involved in the September 11 attacks, and claims that it should have the opportunity to review the discovery documents that the airlines turn over to plaintiffs and have the power to withhold any documents that the government believes are "sensitive" to national security interests.

Also, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Cir.) invalidates a U.S. District judge's ruling granting access to legal counsel to Yaser Hamdi, a military detainee who was held incommunicado and without any hearing.

16 - Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) write Secretary of State Colin Powell and demand a full accounting of how and why security guards at the State Department detained reporter Mowbray on July 12.

19 - The Air Force Office of Special Investigations begins an investigation into who leaked a document to The New York Times outlining how the U.S. might attack Iraq.

22 - Rumsfeld tells reporters that he wants Pentagon workers to help catch the person who leaked information from a classified planning document about an attack on Iraq to The New York Times.

23 - Senators Leahy, Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Robert Bennett (R-Utah) agree to compromise language to mitigate blanket confidentiality requirements in the Homeland Security bill drafted by the Bush administration.

24 - A state court judge in New York grants the government's request to intervene in Mariani v. United Airlines, a wrongful death action.

James Ujaama, a Seattle resident and U.S. citizen, is arrested in Denver as a material witness to terrorist activity.

25 - Attorney General Ashcroft defends Operation TIPS to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ashcroft says TIPS would merely refer terrorism tips to the appropriate law enforcement agencies; information would not be collected in a central database; and TIPS volunteers would not spy on ordinary people. He does not say what law enforcement agencies would do with the information.

26 - U.S. House passes Homeland Security Bill, calling for confidentiality on voluntarily submitted information on homeland security, exempting it from Freedom of Information Act requirements and calling for criminal penalties for disclosure. The bill also prohibits programs such as Operation TIPS. House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) says the bill is intended to prevent citizens from spying on each other.

29 - U.S. News & World Report's "Washington Whispers" column reports that parking lot guards are stopping every 30th car leaving the Pentagon to ask if anyone is smuggling out classified documents. The column also reports that the CIA suspended two contractors in June for talking to the press.

AUGUST

2 - By this date, the FBI has questioned nearly all 37 members of the Senate and House intelligence committees in its probe of leaks of classified information related to the September 11 attacks, The Washington Post reports. Most lawmakers told the FBI they would not take a lie detector test. The FBI also has questioned about 100 employees on Capitol Hill and dozens of officials at the CIA, National Security Agency and Defense Department.

President Bush signs legislation that permits families and victims of September 11 to watch the Moussaoui trial via closed-circuit television.

Also, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in Washington, D.C., orders the Justice Department to release the names of an estimated 1,200 detainees.

5 - U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in New York agrees to unseal records in the case of Abdallah Higazy, who was detained as a material witness after the September 11 attacks because a security guard at the Millennium Hilton Hotel in New York falsely claimed that he found a pilot's radio in Higazy's hotel room.

8 - U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee in Alexandria, Va., rejects accused spy Brian Regan's attempt to compel New York Times reporter Eric Schmitt to testify about confidential sources.

9 - Justice Department scales back Operation TIPS. Potential tipsters with access to private homes will not be asked to join. The revised plan will ask truckers, dock workers, bus drivers and others to report what they see in public places and along transportation routes.

12 - Reporters covering the Pentagon are meeting tighter requirements for unescorted access to the building. Only those reporters who work full-time within the Pentagon or who visit at least twice a week are allowed unescorted access to the Pentagon. Other reporters must have an escort.

The INS publishes a final rule to require registration and fingerprinting of visitors to the U.S. if they are from a nation that poses a "security risk."

15 - Judge Kessler in Washington, D.C., stays her order to the government to release names of detainees within 15 days so that it can appeal.

16 - U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar in Norfolk, Va., rules that the "Mobbs Declaration" (an affidavit by a government official) was an insufficient basis for detaining Yaser Hamdi as an "enemy combatant."

20 - The General Accounting Office issues a report on the Freedom of Information Act. The study found FOI requesters and agencies did not agree on the effects of September 11 on FOI processing. It found agencies had made some progress in FOI processing, but that backlogs continue to grow.

21 - USA Today asks Judge Brinkema in U.S. District Court in Virginia to publicly release any cockpit voice recordings and transcripts introduced at the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.

22 - Senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee release copies of a previously secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling from May 17 that criticizes the government's behavior in applying for FISA warrants.

26 - U.S. Court of Appeals (6th Cir.) issues an opinion in the Haddad case, finding that the across-the-board closure of immigration proceedings is unconstitutional.

27 - The Justice Department appeals the May 17 ruling of the FISA Court that it said "unnecessarily narrowed" new anti-terror laws that allowed for wider berth in conducting electronic surveillance and in using information obtained from wiretaps and searches. Major portions of the appeal documents are redacted.

29 - Judge Brinkema issues a blanket order in the Moussaoui case placing "any future pleadings filed by the defendant, pro se, containing threats, racial slurs, calls to action, or other irrelevant and inappropriate language," under seal. The Reporters Committee joins several news organizations seeking access to those filings, objecting that a complete ban on access was not justified.

SEPTEMBER

9 - The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review meets for the first time in its history to review in secret an appeal by the Justice Department regarding applications for secret search warrants used to gather foreign intelligence information under the USA PATRIOT Act.

11 - The INS rule requiring registration and fingerprinting of some visitors to the United States becomes effective.

24 - The New York Times files a motion to intervene in the Moussaoui criminal case for purposes of access to records. The Times had filed a FOIA request with the New York Port Authority, but the Port Authority refused to turn over the records, claiming that they were subject to a protective order that had been issued in the Moussaoui case. The court never rules on the motion; all parties enter into a stipulation, which the court endorsed.

26 - Moussaoui files a motion asking the court to issue a gag order on the prosecutor. The motion was denied, but Judge Brinkema had previously given attorneys specific orders not to discuss certain aspects of the case.

27 - Brinkema concludes that Moussaoui has "toned down his inappropriate rhetoric" in motions he was filing, and therefore "the administrative burden on the United States of identifying and redacting problematic language from the defendant's pro se filings no longer justifies a total sealing of all the defendant's pleadings." Under Brinkema's order, all of Moussaoui's pleadings will be initially filed under seal. Within ten days after Moussaoui files his documents, the United States must "advise the Court in writing whether the pleading should remain under seal or be unsealed with or without redactions."

OCTOBER

8 - The U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia (3rd Cir.) issues its ruling in North Jersey Media Group v. Ashcroft, finding that blanket closure of immigration courts is justified by the potential threat to national security.

30 - Attorney General Ashcroft reports to Congress that anti-leaks legislation (a so-called "Official Secrets Act") is not necessary.

NOVEMBER

16 - The first in a series of Defense Department-sponsored reporters boot camps takes place in Quantico, Va. The week-long program puts 58 journalists through basic first aid and wartime safety training.

18 - The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review rules that under the USA PATRIOT Act, the government may obtain search warrants from the secret FISA Court where the primary purpose of an investigation is criminal activity, not foreign intelligence.

Also, the U.S. Court of Appeals (D.C. Cir.) hears arguments in Center for National Security Studies v. Ashcroft. The plaintiffs, including the Reporters Committee, argue that the federal Freedom of Information Act requires the Justice Department to disclose the identities of hundreds of foreign nationals secretly detained after September 11.

25 - President Bush signs the Homeland Security Act into law.

DECEMBER

4 - U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey in New York rules that the president has authority as commander-in-chief to detain "unlawful combatants," but military detainee Jose Padilla has the right to challenge his detention and to consult a lawyer.

11 - The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia adopts a qualified reporter's privilege to prevent war correspondents from being forced to provide evidence in the court's prosecutions of war criminals. The decision provides considerable protection for journalists who cover conflict zones and who are subpoenaed to testify before the tribunal.

12 - The Reporters Committee and other press advocacy groups send a second letter to the Bush administration urging it to abide by wartime coverage guidelines established in 1992 by the Pentagon and media groups. The letter also asks the White House to ensure access to action not only in the Middle East, but stateside as well.

JANUARY 2003

8 - The U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Cir.) overturns Judge Doumar's ruling, finding that Hamdi's detention as an enemy combatant is legitimate and he may be held without access to a lawyer.

10 - The Washington Post reports that an INS registration requirement has resulted in the detention of more than 500 men.

17 - Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) questions Homeland Security Secretary nominee Tom Ridge about FOI provisions in the Homeland Security Act and is assured that Ridge will help "to clarify the language."

24 - The Department of Homeland Security officially starts operating as a cabinet-level agency.

27 - The Department of Homeland Security issues interim regulations to implement the Freedom of Information Act.

Also, the Department of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy posts its interpretation of the requirements of the Homeland Security Act for confidential treatment of critical infrastructure information.

28 - In his state of the union address, President George W. Bush told the nation, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Controversy over the veracity of this statement would lead to the subpoena of numerous journalists and the jailing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller on July 6, 2004, for refusing to divulge her confidential sources.

Bush also announces the creation of a Terrorist Threat Integration Center "to merge and analyze all threat information in a single location." Civil libertarians worry about the TTIC's potential to invade individuals' private lives.

29 - The American Library Association passes a formal resolution objecting to certain provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and warns that "the activities of library users, including their use of computers to browse the Web or access e-mail, may be under government surveillance without their knowledge or consent."

Also, the INS issues final rules requiring state and local jails holding federal detainees under contracts with the federal government to keep information about them secret.

FEBRUARY

7 - The Center for Public Integrity reveals a secret draft of "PATRIOT Act II," which expands government surveillance powers and increases secrecy surrounding detainees suspected of terrorism.

10 - The American Bar Association adopts a formal resolution that calls for congressional oversight of FISA investigations to ensure that the government is complying with the Constitution and limiting improper government intrusion.

12 - The Pentagon begins making embed assignments for what eventually will become the largest ever wartime mobilization of journalists. The Pentagon continues sponsoring combat training programs at domestic military bases to train 238 journalists in time for a possible invasion of Iraq.

Congressional leaders agree to block funding for the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness project, pending review of the data mining program's effect on civil liberties.

14 - U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., dismisses Hustler publisher Larry Flynt's lawsuit against the Pentagon concerning battlefield access. Friedman said he could no longer consider the lawsuit because the Pentagon included a Hustler reporter among those to be embedded in future Middle East combat missions.

18 - The ACLU and other advocacy groups petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the government's authority to conduct surveillance under FISA, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act, where the government's primary purpose is a criminal investigation rather than foreign intelligence. The group also asks the justices to review how the law contravenes the First and Fourth Amendments.

20 - President Bush signs the 2003 Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, including a short provision written by Rep. George Nethercutt (R-Wash.) to make government data on gun sales secret to protect "homeland security," among other reasons.

25 - Senators Leahy, Grassley and Arlen Spector (R-Pa.) introduce Senate Bill 436, requiring that FISA applications and opinions containing significant legal interpretations be publicly available in an annual report submitted by the attorney general and that FISA rules and procedures be shared with congressional committees. The bill also requires that the aggregate number of FISA wiretaps and surveillance orders against Americans and requests for information from libraries be disclosed to congressional committees.

Also, the Reporters Committee comments on FOI regulations, asking the Department of Homeland Security to incorporate broader expedited review provisions that are found in regulations used by the Justice Department.

26 - The U.S. Supreme Court cancels its review of the government's challenge to court-ordered release of gun sale data in City of Chicago v. Dept. of the Treasury and asks the lower court to see what effect the Nethercutt appropriations amendment has on release of the data under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

27 - In a contentious exchange over the costs of war with Iraq, the Pentagon's second-ranking official disparages a top Army general's assessment of the number of troops needed to secure postwar Iraq. House Democrats then accuse the Pentagon official, Paul D. Wolfowitz, of concealing internal administration estimates on the cost of fighting and rebuilding the country.

A coalition of newspapers files a complaint demanding that transcripts of Mohammed El-Atriss' unprecedented ex parte, in camera bail hearings in Passaic County, N.J., be released to the public.

Also, The American Society of Newspaper Editors releases an evaluation of the effect of "PATRIOT Act II" on newspapers. It concludes that the act's impact on the First Amendment can be divided into three general categories: (1) Increased surveillance authority that might chill speech, especially political dissent; (2) Increased restrictions on access to government information, either generally or through the Freedom of Information Act; and (3) Increased criminal provisions that might affect the First Amendment protections of the right to free association.

28 - The Pentagon releases ground rules for embedding reporters among U.S. troops in future Middle East combat missions, particularly if the United States launches attacks on Iraq.

Also, the Pentagon releases a draft list of crimes, including hijacking, poisoning and rape, that terror suspects prosecuted by U.S. military tribunals could be charged with.

The media parties in North Jersey Media Group v. Ashcroft petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Third Circuit's decision to close deportation hearings.

MARCH

2 - The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that many terrorism prosecutions may not be what they seem: Of 62 indictments by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey in "terrorism cases" — the most of any office in the country — 60 of those cases were against "Middle Eastern students charged with paying others to take their English proficiency tests."

4 - Attorney General Ashcroft tells the Senate Judiciary Committee he has authorized more than 170 emergency searches since the September 11 attacks — more than triple the 47 emergency searches authorized by other attorneys general in the last 20 years. Ashcroft says he also would continue efforts to remove "excessive restraints imposed in the late '70s" on police and surveillance powers, according to a Newsday report. Ashcroft also asserted that courts had upheld all of his policies challenged by lawsuits, although Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) pointed out that one appellate court ruled against his policy on blanket closing of special interest immigration hearings, and a federal court in Washington, D.C., ordered the department to release the names of detainees picked up in the anti-terror sweep following the attacks.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports that the Ohio Department of Health's choice of keeping secret the location of smallpox-vaccinated healthcare workers was intended to keep the information from terrorists so that they could not target hospitals. But healthcare workers complain that it means patients, including those with seriously affected immune systems, also do not know where they can receive treatment from healthcare workers who have been vaccinated.

6 - Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) introduces the "Freedom to Read Protection Act," which "amend[s] the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to exempt bookstores and libraries from orders requiring the production of any tangible things for certain foreign intelligence investigations, and for other purposes."

7 - The first wave of embedded journalists — 662 of them — ships out to Iraq. By the time President Bush announces the end of major combat on May 1, more than 700 journalists will have been embedded with U.S. troops.

8 - A contract for Iraqi post-war construction is secretly awarded to Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. Throughout early March no-bid and limited-bid contracts are awarded to selected companies, including prominent Bush campaign contributors. Requests for the contracts were sent by the Pentagon as early as November 2002.

11 - Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey in New York issues a sharp opinion that not only reaffirms his original ruling that detained U.S. citizen Jose Padilla is entitled to a lawyer, but adds a rebuke to the government: "Lest any confusion remain, this is not a suggestion or a request that Padilla be permitted to consult with counsel, and it is certainly not an invitation to conduct a further 'dialogue' about whether he will be permitted to do so. It is a ruling — a determination — that he will be permitted to do so."

13 - Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduces the "Restoration of the FOI Act."

17 - U.S. District Court in Los Angeles rules in Coastal Delivery Corp v. U.S. Customs Service that the agency can withhold information on seaport inspections because terrorists might find it useful.

22- The first journalist is killed in Iraq. Terry Lloyd, of ITN television in the U.K., was killed when a group of journalists got caught in crossfire in southern Iraq.

24 - The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to allow the ACLU to challenge the Justice Department's use of secret FISA warrants under the USA PATRIOT Act in cases where the primary purpose is a criminal investigation but gathering foreign intelligence information is also a "significant purpose."

The existence of Halliburton's Iraq post-war reconstruction contract is revealed.

25 - President Bush amends the Clinton Executive Order on Classification, broadening the classification system.

Also, a U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City issues a ruling in Living Rivers v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, to deny maps on potential flood areas because terrorists might use that information.

26 - The New York Stock Exchange revokes press credentials issued to Al-Jazeera reporters.

Also, the U.S. begins its first prosecution of members of an alleged terror cell in the U.S. since the 2001 attacks. The Associated Press reports that jury selection took place in the Detroit trial of four men accused of conspiracy to support terrorism, but the proceedings were closed.

APRIL

1 - In an 18-page letter to Attorney General Ashcroft, the House Judiciary Committee requests information regarding the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act.

4 - The first U.S. journalist is killed in Iraq. Michael Kelly of the Atlantic Monthly and Washington Post was killed along with a U.S. soldier when the Humvee they were riding in ran off the road and into a canal.

8 - Al-Jazeera offices in Baghdad are struck by U.S. bombing mission.

Also, U.S. tanks fire rounds into the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, killing two journalists.

15 - Department of Homeland Security issues regulations on protecting critical infrastructure information.

25 - President Bush authorizes a new national policy that establishes guidance and implementation actions for commercial remote sensing space capabilities. The directive moves more government satellite imaging to commercial companies. The policy also allows the government to limit distribution or collection of photos in cases of national security.

MAY

1 - Attorney General Ashcroft discloses that the government obtained a record 1,228 warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) last year for secret wiretaps and searches of suspected terrorists.

Also, the Senate Intelligence Committee rejects White House proposal that would allow the CIA and the Pentagon to issue "national security letters" requiring institutions to provide personal and financial information about their customers.

2 - The General Counsel of the Department of Defense issues formal instructions that will govern military tribunal proceedings.

8 - Senate passes a FISA amendment by a vote of 90-4, which expands the government's authority to conduct searches and surveillance of suspected terrorists even if they do not have ties to a foreign government or terrorist organization. The amendment targets "lone-wolf" foreign terrorists and does not apply to U.S. citizens.

10 - Six French journalists traveling to the United States to cover a video game show are denied entrance because they lacked press visas.

17 - The New York Times reports that U.S. officials admitted that there had been several secret arrests of suspected al-Qaida operatives. The alleged operatives were in the U.S. conducting "presurveillance activities." The exact number of men, their identities, where they were arrested, where they were held, and the charges against them have not been disclosed.

20 - House Judiciary Committee releases answers received from the Justice Department, responding to its inquiry regarding implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Also, the Justice Department says that as of January 2003, the number of people detained as material witnesses in terrorism-related cases was fewer than 50, with 90 percent detained for 90 days or less. Half were held for 30 days or less. The details were provided in a report to the House Judiciary Committee, in response to its request for information about the War on Terror.

24 - The FBI apologizes to eight Egyptian men who lived in Evansville, Ill., and who had been detained after September 11 as material witnesses. They were held without being charged with a crime and were unable to communicate with their families.

27 - U.S. Supreme Court declines to review North Jersey Media Group v. Ashcroft, meaning that the split in the circuits over closed deportation hearings will remain.

JUNE

2 - The Justice Department's Inspector General's report on the treatment of aliens detained after September 11 reports that the Bureau of Prisons did not provide adequate information about the location of the detainees to their attorneys or families, and these polices hindered the detainees' ability to obtain and consult with legal counsel.

12 - Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel (D-Pa.) introduces the Surveillance Oversight and Disclosure Act (SODA), which requires the Justice Department to submit an annual report showing the number of search warrants issued under FISA, whether the targets were citizens or non-citizens, and the type of search conducted. In addition, the bill requires the Justice Department to provide a semi-annual report to intelligence committees regarding government requests for records from schools and public libraries.

16 - The Reporters Committee comments on critical infrastructure information rules, urging Department of Homeland Security to stay within the law and protect the information only when it is submitted by outside businesses to DHS itself.

Also, Victoria Clarke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, announces her resignation. Clarke is credited by many with convincing Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to offer better media access to the battlefield through the embed process.

17 - The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., denies access to detainee names in a decision clouded by national security concerns in Center for National Security Studies v. Department of Justice.

Also, the Office of the Inspector General issues a formal report to Congress regarding the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act, noting that it found 34 credible complaints of civil rights or civil liberties violations related to the Act in the past six months.

19 - Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) introduces the "Restoration of the FOI Act" in the House, a companion to the Leahy bill in the Senate.

Also, the Justice Department announces that an Ohio truck driver pleaded guilty to conspiring with terrorists. Iyman Faris pleaded guilty to the charges against him on May 1 in federal court in Alexandria, Va. His arrest, charge and plea had occurred entirely in secret.

23 - A Qatari man, Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, is designated an enemy combatant. He had been detained as a material witness in late-2001. He was then charged in federal court for credit card fraud and for allegedly lying to the FBI. After his designation as an enemy combatant, he was transferred to military custody.

25 - Federal agency FOI officers convene for training, coordinated by the Department of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy, in how to withhold Homeland Security information.

Also, the Pentagon's Southern Command announces that it is prepared to try terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay.

26 - The Arizona Daily Star reports that Muhammad Al-Qudhai'een, a University of Arizona student from Saudi Arabia, was arrested on June 13 and is being held in secret in a Virginia jail. He was apparently held as a material witness, although his hearing was not public.

JULY

3 - The Office of Information and Privacy issues a summary of training on new Homeland Security training topics for FOI officers.

4- President Bush designates six suspected terrorists to be tried by the military, but the government refuses to identify the men, say when the trials would take place, or identify the location of the trials. The Washington Post reports that two Britons, Moazzam Begg and Feroz Abbasi, are among the six men. The Australian government also announces that an Australian, David Hicks, is on the list.

6 - The New York Times publishes a column by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson questioning Bush's Jan. 28, 2003, assertion that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa. Wilson wrote that the CIA sent him to Africa in 2002 to investigate questions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office about whether Niger had agreed to sell a lightly processed uranium called yellowcake to Iraq. Wilson reported that such a transaction was "highly doubtful," and that he was confident that his report "was circulated to appropriate administration officials."

14 - Editor and Publisher magazine reports in its tally of embedded journalists that only 23 journalists remain attached to a military outfit. Most journalists had struck out on their own by that time, willing to brave the hostilities of a post-war Iraq without military support.

Rabih Haddad, head of a Michigan-based Islamic charity, is deported to Lebanon.

Syndicated columnist Robert Novak publishes a column that identifies Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. Novak says Plame was identified by unidentified senior administration officials. Willful disclosure by federal employees of such information is a felony. Plame is married to former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a prominent critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policies who concluded during a 2002 mission to Africa that there was little evidence that Saddam Hussein had sought uranium there. Wilson has said he believes his wife's identity was disclosed in retaliation for his public discussions of those findings.

16 - The Anchorage Daily News reports that more than 150 state and local governments nationwide have adopted resolutions criticizing the USA PATRIOT Act for violating citizens' constitutional rights.

17 - Time.com publishes a story by Matthew Cooper titled "A War on Wilson?" Cooper reported that "some government officials have noted to TIME in interviews, (as well as to syndicated columnist Robert Novak) that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA official" and that the officials "suggested that she was involved in her husband's being dispatched to Niger."

22 - The U.S. House votes 308-118 to adopt an amendment to the USA PATRIOT Act prohibiting funds from being used to carry out the provision that allows the government to conduct "sneak and peek" searches with no notice to the target of the investigation.

29 - The Denver Post reports that, in order to avoid having to tell the FBI what patrons are reading under the USA PATRIOT Act, a Boulder, Colo., library "has decided to almost completely stop recording what books patrons have checked out."

30 - The ACLU files a complaint in U.S. District Court in Detroit alleging that portions of the USA PATRIOT Act that authorize the government to conduct secret searches and seizures are unconstitutional. Under the Act, librarians may be required to disclose the types of books people read and could not inform patrons if the government had requested such records.

AUGUST

6 - The Washington Post reports that another Pakistani man who allegedly had ties to Iyman Faris, Uzair Paracha, was arrested on March 31, 2003, and held as a material witness.The newspaper says Paracha would be charged soon. The case against him is under seal.

Mike Hawash, an Intel software engineer near Portland, Ore., who was detained as a material witness in February 2003, pleads guilty to giving material support to the Taliban and agrees to testify against his co-conspirators in exchange for a minimized sentence.

9 - Two Pakistani men were arrested at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after their names were flagged on an anti-terrorist "no-fly" list. The Washington Post reports that they are being held on immigration charges, as federal authorities try to determine what they were doing in the United States. Federal officials refused to identify the two men by name.

12 - Hemant Lakhani, a British citizen, was arrested in New Jersey. He allegedly is an arms dealer who tried to sell a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile to an undercover FBI agent posing as a Muslim terrorist. Although the criminal complaint was filed under seal, reports say that he was charged with providing material support to terror groups.

22- News media groups ask Department of Homeland Security to make public comments it received on its proposed critical infrastructure information policies.

26 - In a sharply worded letter to President Bush, Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) demand to know why New Yorkers were given incomplete information about the potential dangers from the polluted air caused by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. The senators' letter was in response to a report released a week earlier by the inspector general of the Environmental Protection Agency.

27- Signatories from 75 public interest groups ask Department of Homeland Security to publish rules on "safeguarding and sharing" information for public comment before making them effective.

28 - The New York/New Jersey Port Authority releases transcripts of emergency calls from those trapped inside the burning World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The transcripts were released after a New Jersey judge granted The New York Times' request for the transcripts under the state's open records law.

29 - In a sealed opinion, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema rules that accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui must have access to the testimony of three captured al-Qaida operatives. The ruling is a setback to the government, which had argued that allowing access to the witnesses could compromise national security.

SEPTEMBER

3 - The General Accounting Office releases a study showing that one-third of federal FOI officers said that they were less likely to make discretionary disclosures of information and, of those, 75 percent cited the Ashcroft memorandum as persuasive in influencing the change.

4 - A redacted version of Judge Brinkema's order granting Moussaoui access to witnesses is released.

10 - Judge Brinkema rejects a proposed compromise in which the government would provide written summaries of the alleged testimony, setting the stage for a showdown in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Cir.).

15 - The military holds a secret Article 32 hearing (similar to a probable cause hearing) for Ahmad I. al-Halabi, an Air Force translator at Guantanamo accused of spying. Though al-Halabi was arrested July 23, the news media doesn't learn of the case until Sept. 24.

16 - The Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals quashes the blanket secrecy order in the al-Halabi spying case.

22 - The Defense Dept. confirms that James Yee, a Muslim army chaplain who worked at the Guantanamo base, is being held in secret detention at a naval brig in South Carolina, for undisclosed reasons.

24 - The al-Halabi spying case is reported in the national news media. The Pentagon acknowledges that al-Halabi has been charged with some 30 espionage-related counts.

25 - The Miami Daily Business Review reports that a heavily redacted petition for review has been filed in the Supreme Court by Mohamed Kamel Bellahouel, an Algerian-born resident of Florida who was detained in the aftermath of Sept. 11. Bellahouel, identified only as "M.K.B." in the petition, is challenging the extraordinary secrecy with which lower courts have handled his case. In the courts below, 63 of the 65 docket entries are labeled "SEALED."

29 - The Justice Department informs the White House that it has opened an investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

30 - The military arrests a second Guantanamo translator, Ahmed Mehalba, and charges him with making false statements. Mehalba reportedly was found with classified documents at Logan Airport in Boston.

OCTOBER

1 - Sens. Leahy (D-Vt.), Craig (R-Idaho), Durbin (D-Ill.), Sununu (R-N.H.) and Reed (D-R.I.) introduce Senate Bill 1695, which expands the PATRIOT Act sunset provision.

2 - Sen. Craig (R-Id) and others introduced a bipartisan bill (S. 1709), the Safety and Freedom Assured (SAFE) Act, which would limit roving wiretaps under the PATRIOT Act, curtail delayed notification of searches, and increases privacy protections for library users and others.

Also, with prosecutors having defied her order to give Moussaoui access to the captured al Qaida witnesses, Judge Brinkema imposes sanctions. She eliminates the death penalty and bars prosecutors from introducing evidence related to the Sept. 11 attacks.

9 - The Pentagon announces that it will no longer require journalists who visit Guantanamo to sign an agreement not to ask questions about the recent espionage arrests.

29 - Iyman Faris, the Ohio man accused of plotting to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge, is sentenced to 20 years in prison by Judge Brinkema. The judge rejects Faris' last-minute attempt to withdraw his guilty plea, citing statements Faris made in a secret hearing.

NOVEMBER

5 - The Reporters Committee files a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the secret docketing of the "M.K.B." case violated the public's First Amendment right of access to judicial proceedings.

6 - The Washington Post reports that a Canadian citizen, Maher Arar, was detained and sent to Syria by U.S. officials, where he was tortured for 10 months before being released. The case sheds public light on a shadowy CIA practice known as "rendition," in which terror suspects are turned over to regimes that are known to engage in torture for interrogation purposes. Arar is never charged with a crime by any government.

Also, in a move that will later make it impossible for the German courts to convict two accused Sept. 11 plotters, the Justice Department, without explanation, refuses to let Germany question detained al-Qaida operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

10 - The Pentagon announces that a new Program Management Office has been created to oversee Iraqi reconstruction contracts.

The Supreme Court grants review in Rasul v. Bush, the first major challenge to the Bush administration's conduct of the war on terrorism. The justices will consider whether U.S. courts may hear challenges to the legality of the detention of foreign nationals detained secretly in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

17 - A federal appeals court in New York (2nd Cir.) hears oral argument in the case of Jose Padilla, one of at least three U.S. citizens held indefinitely in secret detention, without charges, as an alleged "enemy combatant." Attorneys for the Bush administration argue that the President has authority to detain anyone, even an American citizen, on the basis of an unreviewable finding that the person is an enemy combatant.

26 - The U.S. and Australia announce that they have reached an "understanding" allowing the U.S. to conduct military tribunals for two Australian citizens, David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib. The two are being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

DECEMBER

3 - The U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Cir.) hears oral argument on whether Zacarias Moussaoui must be given access to the direct testimony of the captured al Qaida witnesses. The argument is conducted in a "bifurcated" format, with a morning session open to the public and a closed session in the afternoon.

Also, on the same day that the government must file a Supreme Court brief in the case of Yaser Esam Hamdi, a U.S. citizen being held as an enemy combatant, the Pentagon announces that Hamdi will be given a lawyer. The announcement is conveniently timed to allow the Justice Dept. to use that fact in its brief. Hamdi had been held for more than two years without access to counsel.

5 - The National Park Service puts U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers on administrative leave because she talked to Washington Post staff writer David Fahrenthold about shortfalls in budgeting and staffing caused by the need to beef up security at national "icons" such as the Washington monument following the terrorist attacks. It would later call her remarks "lobbying" on budget matters.

13 - President Bush signs into law broad new law enforcement powers as a part of the second installment of the PATRIOT Act. The newly signed law redefines "financial institution" to include stockbrokers, casinos, airlines and other institutions.

17 - President Bush issues a directive to all federal agencies directing them to protect voluntarily submitted critical infrastructure information in line with the Homeland Security Act. The language of the Act, however, only protects CII submitted to the Department of Homeland Security.

19 - In a prelude to the Supreme Court's decision in Rasul, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco (9th Cir.) rules that the Guantanamo Bay detainees have a right of access to American courts.

Also, the Bush administration suffers another legal setback, as the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York (2nd Cir. ) determines that U.S. citizen Jose Padilla cannot be held indefinitely based on the President's assertion that he is an enemy combatant. Padilla's release is stayed pending the Supreme Court's resolution of the issue.

30 - Attorney General John Ashcroft recuses himself from the Justice Department's investigation into the leak of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity and Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, is appointed to lead the investigation.

Also, retired Army major general John D. Altenburg Jr. is named Appointing Authority, or general supervisor, of the military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees.

JANUARY 2004

2 - A coalition of 23 media and public interest organizations, including the Reporters Committee, moves to intervene in the sealed Supreme Court case of M.K.B. v. Warden.

Also, in an effort to release reporters from confidentiality agreements with possible White House sources, FBI investigators ask administration officials to sign waivers of their rights to have private conversations with reporters concerning the Valerie Plame investigation, Time magazine reports.

5 - In a highly unusual move, the Justice Department files a completely sealed response to the petition for review in M.K.B. v. Warden, without even a redacted version for public access. It appears to mark the first time the U.S. government's legal position in a Supreme Court case is entirely secret.

8 - A New York appeals court makes public its ruling that the New York City Fire Department may not redact statements about emergency workers' personal feelings from audiotapes of responses to the 2001 terrorist attacks. However, the court held that opinions and recommendations could be redacted under an exemption to the state Freedom of Information Law.

9 - The Supreme Court grants review in the Hamdi case.

20 - Arar, the Canadian citizen whom the U.S. sent to Syria, files a civil rights lawsuit against Attorney General John Ashcroft and other U.S. officials.

21 - The press learns that a Minneapolis man, Mohammed A. Warsame, has been charged with providing material support to al-Qaida. Warsame had been imprisoned for more than a month before charges were filed. The case proceeds in unusual secrecy, as his attorney, public defender Daniel Scott, is initially barred even from meeting with his client.

22 - The federal grand jury investigating the Valerie Plame leak issues three subpoenas to the White House, asking the Executive Office of President Bush to produce records of Air Force One telephone calls in the week before Plame's identity was revealed in Robert Novak's column. One subpoena seeks records of White House contacts with over two dozen journalists and news organizations, including Novak, Chris Matthews, Andrea Mitchell and reporters for Newsday, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.

30 - A University of Texas student is questioned by FBI and Secret Service agents after making an open records request for information about utility tunnels under the university.

FEBRUARY

5 - Although more than two years have passed since President Bush authorized military tribunals for the Guantanamo detainees, none have been held. But the military issues new rules for the tribunals, including a requirement that defense attorneys be informed when the government is monitoring their conversations with clients.

Also, citing U.S. refusal to allow access to captured al Qaida witnesses, a German court acquits Abdelghani Mzoudi of 3,066 counts of accessory to murder for allegedly helping to plan the Sept. 11 attacks.

11- Once again timing an announcement to bolster a brief, the Pentagon announces that alleged enemy combatant Jose Padilla will be given a lawyer. The move comes one hour before the Justice Department files a brief in the case.

13 - Veteran Justice Department prosecutor Richard Convertino sued Attorney Gen. John Ashcroft, claiming the Justice Department had retaliated against him for speaking out on lack of resources to carry out terrorism prosecutions and for testifying before the Senate Finance Committee at the request of Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).

20 - The Department of Homeland Security publishes interim regulations governing the confidential exchanges of Critical Infrastructure Information between the Department of Homeland Security and private entities. The department backs off its earlier proposal to make all federal agencies take steps to protect information voluntarily submitted by private entities, but speculates that it may expand the rules' coverage in the future.

Also, apparently seeing through the administration's tactics, the Supreme Court accepts review of Padilla's case. The hearing will be held the same day as that of alleged enemy combatant Hamdi.

23 - The U.S. Supreme Court denies the petition for review in M.K.B. v. Warden, denies the media's motion to intervene, and grants the Justice Dept.'s motion to file a completely sealed brief. The result allows the extreme secrecy in the case to persist.

24 - Charges are finally announced for the first two Guantanamo detainees to face military tribunals. The two men, Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul of Yemen and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi of Sudan, are accused of conspiracy to commit war crimes.

MARCH

3 - The Pentagon releases a proposal for annual administrative reviews of the Guantanamo detainees by three-officer panels. The process will be separate from the military tribunals.

25 - A federally sponsored Rand Corp. study of publicly available federal geospatial information concludes the information on all but four government Web sites would be of little use to terrorists. Posted information shows the location and key features of particular places but attackers are likely to need more detailed and current information — better acquired from direct observation or other sources.

28 - The American armed forces shut down the Baghdad newspaper al Hawza, sparking protests that eventually lead to violent uprisings in Fallujah and elsewhere. al Hawza had been critical of the U.S. occupation.

APRIL

2 - The Pentagon announces that it is freeing 15 Guantanamo detainees. Their names, and the original reasons for their detention and release, are withheld.

6 - The American Civil Liberties Union files a lawsuit challenging the USA PATRIOT Act powers in U.S. District Court in New York. The lawsuit challenges the FBI's use of national security letters to obtain business records from Internet service providers.

7 - A German appeals court releases Mounir el-Motassadeq, the only man convicted in any jurisdiction of having played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks. The court says acquittal was mandated by the U.S. refusal to provide access to detained al-Qaida operative Ramzi bin al-Shibh.

20 - The Supreme Court hears oral argument in Rasul v. Bush, the dispute over whether U.S. courts have access to hear cases by detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

22 - The U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Cir.) rules that Zacarias Moussaoui may be prosecuted without live access to the al-Qaida witnesses, if detailed written summaries of their testimony are made available to the defense. The court reinstates the death penalty and allows prosecutors to introduce evidence relating to the Sept. 11 attacks.

26 - The Oklahoma Homeland Security Act is amended to strip the state Homeland Security Department of its open meeting and open records exemptions.

28 - The Supreme Court hears oral argument in the cases of Hamdi and Padilla, the U.S. citizens designated as enemy combatants.

MAY

3 - On the heels of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in Iraq, two former Sept. 11 detainees allege in a lawsuit that they were abused while in secret custody without charges at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The men, Javaid Iqbal and Ehab Elmaghraby, say they were beaten, strip-searched, and sexually abused.

6 - The FBI detains Brandon Mayfield, a Portland, Ore., lawyer, on the basis of fingerprint evidence supposedly linking him to the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, Spain. Mayfield is not charged, and is held in secret custody.

11 - The Department of Homeland Security issues an internal directive to safeguard sensitive but unclassified information. The Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy News posts a copy of the directive, which describes how to identify and protect information for privacy and commercial reasons as well as for security reasons. The directive stops short of saying that sensitive information would necessarily be exempt under the Freedom of Information Act.

14 - Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald seeks to question several reporters at The Washington Post and Newsday regarding stories they wrote about the leak of Valerie Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak.

18 - September 11 Commission hearings reveal that tapes of 911 calls withheld from the public by New York City show that some callers were given advice by dispatchers that proved fatal.

Also, the Pentagon announces rules for the annual administrative reviews of Guantanamo detainees. Among other flaws, the hearings will be closed to the public and press, the detainees will not be represented by lawyers, the rules of evidence do not apply, and there is no appeal to an outside court.

19 - The FBI reclassifies information provided by fired contract translator Sibel Edmonds in her whistleblower lawsuit and other actions to inform the public about failures in the translator program. The result is that she cannot testify in any actions brought against the government by families of the victims of September 11.

24 - NBC's Tim Russert, host of "Meet the Press," and Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper are subpoenaed to appear before the federal grand jury investigating the Plame leak.

Also, a federal judge dismisses material witness proceedings involving Brandon Mayfield, the Portland, Ore. lawyer mistakenly linked to the Madrid bombings through a botched fingerprint analysis. U.S. District Judge Robert Jones also rescinds the gag order in the case and unseals the case file.

25 - Newsday.com reports that four reporters from The New York Times, Reuters and Newsday have been subpoenaed to testify in the terrorism-related trial of New York criminal defense attorney Lynne Stewart.

27 - The U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston (1st Cir.) refuses to overturn Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) governing the confinement of the so-called "shoe bomber," Richard Reid. Among other things, the SAMs prevent Reid from speaking to reporters or reading certain news publications.

30 - Time magazine reports that a March 5, 2003, Pentagon email says that a contract awarded to Halliburton was "coordinated" with Vice President Cheney's office. Both the Pentagon and Cheney's office deny that the email means that Cheney was involved with the award of the contract.

JUNE

1 - After insisting for two years that all details of the case against alleged enemy combatant Jose Padilla must be kept secret, even from the federal courts, the Pentagon abruptly releases detailed information about the case — apparently in an effort to allay critics and influence the Supreme Court.

3 - The American Civil Liberties Union sues the Department of Defense under the FOI Act for records on the treatment of detainees held by the American military.

7 - The city of Parma, Ohio, implements and immediately scraps a policy of recording names and descriptions of open records requesters in order to help police identify people who might use public records to commit crimes.

8 - Several news organizations report that a series of government memos, many authored by former Justice Dept. lawyer John C. Yoo, provided the Bush administration with legal arguments to support the use of torture during prisoner interrogations.

9 - The Congressional Research Service publishes a report providing options to the controversial regulations of sensitive security information by the Transportation Security Administration, which appear to give the agency full authority to prohibit disclosure of SSI to the public.

10 - The Pentagon announces charges against David Hicks of Australia, who becomes the third Guantanamo detainee to be charged. Hicks is charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent, and aiding the enemy.

15 - Judge Charles Breyer of U.S. District Court in San Francisco rules in a case brought by two women contesting their placement on federal "no fly" lists that the Transportation Security Administration had improperly categorized "innocuous" information as "sensitive security information."

22 - President Bush releases a stack of selected memoranda addressing administration policy on the treatment of prisoners, and White House counsel spend time with reporters going over the newly released documents.

Washington Post reporter Glenn Kessler is interviewed by prosecutors investigating the Plame leak after sources release him from a promise of confidentiality.

Also, the trial of defense attorney Lynne Stewart begins in federal court in Manhattan. Stewart is accused of providing material support to terrorists by helping her client, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, communicate with members of a reputed terrorist organization, including through her contacts with journalists.

23 - The Pentagon announces that Navy Secretary Gordon Englund will oversee the annual administrative review process for Guantanamo detainees, which still has not begun.

28 - The Supreme Court rules in three major terrorism cases, which collectively present a strong rebuke to the Bush administration's conduct of the war on terrorism:

• In Rasul v. Bush, the court rules that U.S. courts have jurisdiction to hear challenges to the confinement of the Guantanamo detainees, opening the door for a flood of habeas corpus petitions by detainees.

• In Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, the court rules that Hamdi, a U.S. citizen detained as an enemy combatant, must be given an opportunity to contest that determination before a neutral fact-finder. All but one justice, Clarence Thomas, agrees that the administration's position that enemy combatants may be indefinitely detained on the President's word is unlawful.

• In Rumsfeld v. Padilla, the court dismisses a habeas corpus lawsuit by alleged "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla on procedural grounds, but the case is soon re-filed in a different court.

JULY

6 - Judge Reggie Walton of U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accepts the arguments by the Department of Justice that information Sibel Edmonds might give the court about what the FBI knew about the events of September 11 before they happened must be held in confidence as "state secret" information.

7 - The Pentagon announces the formation of a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, composed of military officers, to evaluate whether each of the nearly 600 Guantanamo detainees is properly categorized as an enemy combatant. The rules explicitly lack most due process protections found in American courts, such as access to a lawyer or the presumption of innocence.

9 - U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers is fired after seven months of forced administrative leave for discussing budget difficulties in the face of beefed up national security demands with a Washington Post reporter. The firing follows her petition to the Merit Systems Protection Board to reinstate her.

Also, an effort to curb government powers granted under the USA PATRIOT Act is narrowly defeated by one vote on in the U.S. House of Representatives. The measure would have prevented the government from accessing library and bookseller records — including library patron reading lists and book customer lists.

13 - The Justice Department releases a 29-page report to Congress detailing the department's use of the USA PATRIOT Act, asserting that it has helped thwart al Qaeda plots and led to scores of criminal convictions since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

15 - Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduces the Independent National Security Classification Board Act to establish a board to review and recommend standards for classification of records. (S. 2672)

18 - Iraq's interim prime minister Iyad Allawi issues an order allowing the Al Hawza to resume operations. The newspaper had been closed by American forces in March.

19 - Rep. Robert Cramer (D-Ala.) introduces a companion bill to Sen. Wyden's bill to establish an Independent National Security Classification Board. (H.R. 4855)

20 - Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan of the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., orders NBC's Tim Russert and Time's Matthew Cooper to testify before the Plame grand jury.

22 - The final report of the Sept. 11 Commission (The National Commission on Terrorist attacks Upon the United States) is released. The report cites a need to address problems of overclassification.

29 - The Justice Department agrees to let alleged enemy combatant Ali Seleh al-Marri meet with his attorneys. Like Hamdi and Padilla, al-Marri is held in secret detention at a military brig in South Carolina.

30 - The Combatant Status Review Tribunal conducts its first hearings. The names and nationalities of the detainees are withheld.

Also, the inspector general for the Coalition Provisional Authority releases an audit finding fraud, mismanagement and manipulation in the Iraqi reconstruction contracting process.

AUGUST

4 - A Pentagon audit finds that Halliburton failed to account for more than $1.8 billion of $4.2 billion it received to provide logistical support to coalition troops in Iraq. The audit is not made public, but is leaked to The New York Times.

Also, three agencies announce more takedowns of Web information. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission removes certain security information from its Web site dedicated to the Reactor Oversight Process. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration promises to remove certain space surveillance data as of October 1 and, at the request of the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Communications Commission agrees to restrict access to information about telecommunications disruptions, which DHS said would provide a "roadmap for terrorists."

6 - Time reporter Matthew Cooper is held in contempt of court after he refuses to comply with a July 20 order requiring him to testify before the grand jury investigating the Plame leak. Chief Judge Hogan of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. orders Cooper to jail after he refuses to testify and fines the magazine $1,000 per day until Cooper complies with the order. The sanctions are stayed pending appeal to the federal court of appeals in Washington.

Also, Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus is subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury investigating the Plame leak. Meanwhile, Russert is questioned under oath by prosecutors investigating the Plame leak after a source (Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby) releases him from a promise of confidentiality.

5 - In response to a request by news organizations, a federal judge in Seattle unseals documents from a lawsuit by Salim Ahmed Hamdan, one of the Guantanamo detainees who has been designated to face military tribunals. The documents contain allegations of physical and psychological abuse.

11 - Finally relenting to German pressure, the U.S. provides a German court with summaries of its interrogations of two al-Qaida operatives so that Sept. 11 suspect Mounir el-Motassadeq can be retried.

Also, New York Times reporter Judith Miller is subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury investigating the Plame leak.

12 - A U.S. District Judge in Manhattan orders the Department of Defense to respond to the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups' FOI requests for records on the abuse of prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay by either providing records or citing exemptions for their withholding by August 23.

13 - The International Committee for the Red Cross reports evidence that the U.S. is holding suspected terrorists in secret detention centers across the globe. Terror suspects who have been reported as "captured" by the FBI routinely do not show up on prisoner lists, the Red Cross says. The government refuses to provide a comprehensive list of terror detainees.

Also, in its first rulings, the Combatant Status Review Tribunal upholds the enemy combatant designation of four Guantanamo detainees whose identities are not released.

16 - Citing national security, the Justice Dept. asks U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to allow it to monitor meetings between 12 Kuwaiti detainees at Guantanamo and their lawyers, in connection with habeas petitions involving the detainees. Kollar-Kotelly does not immediately rule on the request.

18 - Federal District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan orders the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to release records on detainee abuse at Guantanamo and other foreign jurisdictions where the United States is detaining persons in its War on Terror.

19 - A Reuters reporter loses his motion to quash a prosecutor's subpoena in the Lynne Stewart trial, which is already underway.

23 - People for the American Way files suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., for information from the Justice Department showing how many times it has asked courts to seal records of court challenges brought by detainees.

Time's Matthew Cooper is interviewed under oath by the special prosecutor investigating the Plame leak after Lewis Libby releases him from a promise of confidentiality.

24 - Preliminary hearings begin in the first American military tribunals since shortly after World War II. The news media is permitted to attend, but only after signing "ground rules" that impose major restrictions on coverage. Representatives from human rights organizations are also permitted to observe the tribunals themselves, though they are barred from the tour of the prison given to members of the press.

Just three weeks into its operations, the Combatant Status Review Tribunal has already conducted hearings for 31 Guantanamo detainees. It has upheld the "enemy combatant" designation in all 14 cases in which decisions have been reached.

Also, the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform's subcommittee on national security heard the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office, the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense and others testify concerning the increasing overclassification of records.

26 - The Congressional Research Service issues "Secrecy Versus Openness," a short report on proposed legislation to restructure the classification process.

SEPTEMBER

12 - Mazen al-Tumeizi, a journalist for al-Arabiya, an Arab satellite channel, is shot dead as he made a live broadcast from Baghdad when U.S. helicopters fired on a crown gathered around the burning wreckage of a U.S. armored vehicle.

13 - Matthew Cooper and Time magazine are subpoenaed again to testify in the Valerie Plame investigation.

Reuters reporter Esmat Salaheddin testifies in the Lynne Stewart trial about the accuracy of a published story.

14 - Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) issues a lengthy white paper detailing new government secrecy and claiming that this administration has narrowed the scope of every open government law passed by Congress.

15 - U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan, noting the "glacial pace" of the government's response to an FOI request by the ACLU on treatment of detainees, called for identification of records and a status conference in one month.

16 - Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus gives a deposition in the Valerie Plame investigation with an unnamed source's permission, but refuses to name the source who had already identified him or herself.

28 - The New York Times files a lawsuit in federal court in New York to block the disclosure of reporters Judith Miller's and Phillip Shenon's telephone records to prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, is investigating the leak of a planned FBI raid on an Islamic charity in Chicago suspected of funding terrorism.

In a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero rules that the FBI's use of national security letters under the USA PATRIOT Act is unconstitutional because of a lack of judicial supervision and because non-disclosure provisions violate the First Amendment.

OCTOBER

6 - The Department of Energy classifies its current intelligence budget and retroactively classifies previous ones.

7 - Judith Miller is held in contempt for refusing to testify in the Valerie Plame investigation and ordered jailed and fined $1,000 per day until she testifies. The sentence is stayed pending appeal.

8 - The Merit Systems Review Board upheld the National Parks Service's firing of police chief Teresa Chambers for telling a Washington Post reporter of inadequate funding for new terrorism protections.

12 - Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.) closed his Capitol Hill Office in response to an intelligence report on terrorist threats that could not be shared with the public.

13 - Matthew Cooper and Time magazine are held in contempt for refusing to testify in the Valerie Plame investigation and ordered jailed and fined $1,000 per day until they testify. The sentence is stayed pending appeal.

20 - U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., refuses to allow the government to record meetings between three Kuwaiti detainees and their lawyers or to review any notes taken during the meetings because it would violate attorney-client privilege, but orders defense lawyers to keep secret any information they learn from their clients.

NOVEMBER

8 - U.S. District Judge James Robertson in Washington, D.C., halts the military tribunals at Guantanamo as unlawful and rules that detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan may not be tried unless he is found not to be a prisoner of war under the 1949 Geneva Convention.

19 - Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) introduces a reporter's shield bill in the Senate, but the session expires soon afterwards, before the bill can be acted on.

30 - The Washington Post reports that journalists who are not embedded with a military unit are barred from traveling through towns south of Baghdad.

DECEMBER

Throughout the month, the ACLU releases e-mails obtained under the FOI Act showing the FBI accused military interrogators of posing as FBI agents and humiliating and abusing detainees by techniques including inserting lit cigarettes in prisoners' ears and shackling them into a fetal positions for up to 24 hours, forcing them to soil themselves.

JANUARY 2005

14 - The Justice Department released an unclassified version of Inspector General findings that fired translator Sibel Edmonds' actions did not merit her retaliatory dismissal and that the FBI failed to follow up her claims that materials on terrorists were shoddily translated.

18 - The Associated Press reports that bounties of as much as $10,000 are reportedly being offered for murdering a journalists or an Iraqi translator in an area dubbed the "triangle of death" south of Baghdad.

19 - U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., rules in Khalid v. Bush that the president has the power to detain seven foreign-born terror suspects captured outside the U.S. and that the detainees have no "cognizable" constitutional rights.

20 - A freelance photographer covering a 2005 presidential inaugural protest for alternative media network Indymedia is hit with pepper spray and has his cameras confiscated before District of Columbia police arrest him as he films a group of protestors. Earlier on Inauguration Day, as many as 15 percent of the 1,000 television reporters and cameramen who applied for special credentials to be allowed into a high security zone for the ceremony do not get them, The Associated Press reported.

31 - U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green in Washington, D.C., rules in In re Guantanamo Detainee Cases that detainees have valid claims under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and that combatant status review tribunals at the prison in Cuba violate the detainees' rights of due process. (The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., was scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case, which has been combined with Khalid v. Bush, on Sept. 8, 2005, under the caption Boumediene v. Bush.)

FEBRUARY

2 - Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Rick Boucher (D-Va.) introduce a reporter's shield bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. District Judge Hellerstein in Manhattan tells the CIA it must comply with his Sept. 15 order to identify records on detainee treatment sought by the ACLU.

The Department of Justice told People for the American Way it must pay $400,000 to have its FOI request for secret legal proceedings against detainees processed.

9 - Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) introduces a reporter's shield bill in the Senate. Lugar's bill is identical to the one introduced in the House seven days earlier.

10 - Lynne Stewart is convicted in U.S. District Court in New York with only one of the subpoenaed journalists being called to the stand. Prosecutors dropped the subpoena of Newsday reporter Patricia Hurtado and two subpoenaed New York Times reporters were never called to testify.

14 - Sen. Dodd reintroduces his reporter's shield bill in the Senate.

15 - The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. upholds the subpoenas of Judith Miller, Matthew Cooper and Time magazine

16 - Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Introduce legislation to revamp the Freedom of Information Act. Among other reforms, the bill would make government-owned information held by contractors subject to the FOI Act and require data and effectiveness reports on secret exchanges of critical infrastructure information.

18 - U.S. District Judge Hellerstein in Manhattan tells the CIA he will not stay his decision while it appeals his order to identify records on detainee treatment sought by the ACLU.

Agents from the CIA and Energy and Defense Departments search library archives at the University of Washington and reclassify some donated by the late Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson.

23 - The U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Arlington, Va., rules in Denver Post v. United States that an investigating officer illegally closed a preliminary hearing to investigate murder charges against Army soldiers in connection with the death of an Iraqi general during interrogation. The closure order should have been "narrowly tailored" to protect classified information, the court held, and ordered that a redacted transcript of the hearing be released.

24 - U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet of New York rules that The New York Times has a right under the First Amendment and the common law to keep its reporters telephone records secret from Chicago prosecutors in the Global Relief Foundation leak investigation.

28 - U.S. District Judge Henry F. Floyd of Spartanburg, S.C., rules in Padilla v. Hanft that Bush administration has no power to hold terror suspect Jose Padilla, an American citizen, as an "enemy combatant" without charging him with a crime.

MARCH

2 - Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations holds an oversight hearing about the proliferation of "pseudo-classification" categories of information that are not classified but are withheld from the public under other labels.

4 - Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena is shot by U.S. troops as she is being whisked to freedom after one month in captivity in Iraq. Her driver, Italian military officer Nicola Calipari, is killed.

16 - Citing unnecessary protections for "big business polluters," Sen. Patrick Leahy introduces the Restore FOIA Act, an amendment to the Homeland Security Act that would revise protections for Critical Infrastructure Information provided by businesses.

25 - A Pentagon report clears the U.S. military of any wrongdoing in the shooting of Sgrena and Calipari. Italian officials blast the report and ask for further investigation.

APRIL

6 - The Inter-agency Security Oversight Office reported a record 15.5 information classification actions by the federal government in 2004.

MAY

2 - The Department of Defense released photos of American soldier's caskets flown into Dover, Del., but blacked out faces of soldiers carrying the caskets citing privacy and security concerns.

10 - The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., affirmed the dismissal of whistleblower Sibel Edmonds' lawsuit because litigation might reveal "state secrets."

12 - Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) introduces the Restore Open Government Act to eliminate restrictions on FOI disclosures inherent in the "Ashcroft memo" and "Card memo," to eliminate pseudo-classification, cut over-classification and reduce protections for critical infrastructure information.

JUNE

1 - U.S. District Judge Hellerstein in Manhattan orders the Department of Defense to redact personally identifying features from the "Darby" photographs of detainees at Abu Ghraib and release the photographs to the ACLU under the FOI Act.

24 - A U.S. military sniper shoots and kills Yasser Salihee, an Iraqi reporter working for Knight Ridder in Baghdad.

27 - The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the appeal of Judith Miller, Matthew Cooper and Time magazine, who have been held in contempt of court for refusing to testify in the Valerie Plame investigation.

30 - Time magazine agrees to cooperate with prosecutors in the Valerie Plame investigation and turn Matthew Cooper's notes over to the grand jury.

JULY

6 - Matthew Cooper announces that his source has waived confidentiality and that he will testify in the Valerie Plame investigation. Judith Miller is jailed for refusing to testify. She will remain in prison until she agrees to cooperate or until the grand jury expires in 120 days.

15 - U.S. District Court of Appeals (D.C. Cir.) holds in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that military tribunals planned for four detainees at Guantanamo Bay are legal.

17 - Matthew Cooper reveals in a Time magazine column that he has testified before the grand jury in the Valerie Plame investigation and that his source was presidential advisor Karl Rove.

18 - The reporter's shield bill is amended in the House and Senate to address Justice Department concerns that it would hamper terrorism investigations.

A federal district court judge in San Diego dismissed an "invasion of privacy" suit by the wife of a navy SEAL whose Internet posted photos of Navy SEALS posed sitting on hooded and handcuffed Iraqi prisoners were republished by The Associated Press.

19 - U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Cir.) hears oral argument in Padilla v. Hanft. No decision had been issued by late August.

20 - The U.S. Senate holds a hearing on the reporter's shield bill.

22 - The federal government asks federal Judge Hellerstein in Manhattan to now consider withholding the "Darby" photographs for individual safety concerns. The judge had rejected government arguments that disclosure of the photos, with identities redacted, would intrude upon privacy.

AUGUST

1 - U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Cir.) holds in Media General Operations, Inc. v. Buchanan that the government's interest in protecting an ongoing antiterrorism investigation of Islamic charities and businesses justified sealing a search-warrant affidavit containing "sensitive details" about the probe.

2 - Freelance reporter Steven C. Vincent becomes the first American journalist attacked and killed in the war in Iraq when he is kidnapped and shot by masked gunmen in the southern city of Basra.

4 - Arguing that the government cannot exempt pictures that show outrageous government behavior simply because they could trigger rioting and violence, 14 news groups filed an amicus brief in ACLU v. DOD protesting the use of the FOI Act's law enforcement exemption to hide pictures of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.

8 - The ACLU asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the dismissal of fired FBI translator Sibel Edmonds' court case for "state secrets" reasons.

The Defense Department struck a settlement agreement with a Delaware journalism professor to release photographs of the coffins returned to Dover, Del., as "expeditiously as possible." Many of the black marks obliterating faces of the honor guard were removed.

14 - The Reporters Committee and 13 other press groups ask the federal district court in Manhattan to reject new government arguments that depictions in detainee torture pictures are too incendiary to release.

16 - A federal judge in Manhattan orders the government to disclose part of its arguments against releasing detainee photos it says are too incendiary to release.

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