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12 W. St. U. L. Rev. 173 (1984-1985)
Freedom of Speech, National Security, and Democracy: The Constitutionality of National Security Decision Directive 84

handle is hein.journals/wsulr12 and id is 179 raw text is: Freedom of Speech, National Security, and Democracy: The Constitutionality of National Security Decision Directive 84 Tyranny, like fog, can come creeping in on cat's feet. It comes little by little, chipping away at this freedom and chivvying that right. It adopts the habits and practices of a police state while blandly assuring everyone that no police state exists. It intimidates in the name of 'fairness' and denies that conformity and obedience are what are really desired.' I. INTRODUCTION President Reagan proposed National Security Decision Directive 84 on March 11, 1983. The directive's purpose is to safeguard the fed- eral government against the unlawful disclosure of classified informa- tion which damage(s) national security by providing valuable information to our adversaries, by hampering the ability of our intelli- gence agencies to function effectively, and by impairing the conduct of American foreign policy.2 The directive orders each agency of the executive branch of the federal government that handles classified information to adopt inter- nal procedures to safeguard against unlawful disclosures of classified information. Among the procedures ordered by the directive is the im- plementation in all such agencies of nondisclosure agreements and pre- publication review of all materials written by current and former employees. The directive requires that, at minimum: a. All persons with authorized access to classified information shall be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement as a condition of ac- cess .... b. All persons with authorized access to Sensitive Compartmental Information (SCI) shall be required to sign a nondisclosure agree- ment as a condition of access to SCI and other classified information. All such agreements must include a provision for prepublication re- 1. New York Times, May 2, 1971 § 4 (Magazine) at 14. 2. Presidential Directive on Safeguarding National Security Information memorandum from William French Smith, Attorney General, published in Hearing Before the Committee on GovernmentalAffairs, U.S. Senate, 98th Congress, 1st Sess. (1983) (hereinafter Hearing), p. 88.

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