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49 J.L. & Educ. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/jle49 and id is 1 raw text is: 







Academic Research Transparency and the

Importance of Being Earnest



                           David W. Schnare*


                           I. ABSTRACT

   Public universities and their research faculty have become important
participants in governmental regulatory policy making. The public often
chaffs from  such regulatory  controls and demands   that the scientific
foundations  of such  policies be open  to public examination.  In  the
absence  of quantitative information on the volume  and nature of such
requests, an  analysis was  conducted,  documenting   that on  average
Category  I & II public research universities receive one records request
every  day.  These  requests,  however,  only  rarely  request records
associated with academic   research. The mean   probability of a public
university research academic receiving a record request is 0.00062, or one
request every 1,600 years. However, when  the request lands on a faculty
member's  desk, it can impose significant work that takes time away from
academic  pursuits and  raises complaints of harassment. Nevertheless,
such requests can disclose important information not otherwise available
to the public or the greater research community. Faculty who have been
asked to divulge their work have claimed  a scholar's privilege which
would  exempt  them  from any  form of public inspection of their work.
Examination  of state protections and jurisprudence on academic freedom
demonstrate  the  complete  absence  of  a scholar's privilege  or any


    * Dr. Schnare, Esq. is the emeritus Director of the Free Market Environmental Law Clinic,
a thirty-five-year veteran of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, emeritus Chairman of
the Energy & Environment Legal Institute and a former Adjunct Professor at George Mason
University's Antonin Scalia Law School.
    Conflict of interest statement:
    Dr. Schnare was the lead counsel in the matters of E&E Legal v. Arizona Board of Regents
and American Tradition Institute v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. He also
served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the plaintiff organization.


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