Release

Experts Advisory: Classified Documents and Openness in Government Expert

Contact: Office of Media Relations
(518) 437-4980
[email protected]

ALBANY, N.Y. (February 21, 2006) -- U.S. intelligence agencies seek to reclassify thousands of historical documents that have been publicly available for years according to the New York Times. University at Albany President Kermit L. Hall was one of five Americans appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Assassination Records Review Board to review and release to the public classified documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Hall, a constitutional scholar and legal historian, is available to offer his perspective on the need for openness in government in a just society. For his commitment to openness in government, the American Library Association bestowed its James Madison Award on Hall in 1999.

In addition, Hall is author and editor of 21 books on the American legal and constitutional system, including the Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (New York, Oxford University Press, 2nd revised edition, 2005), and the Oxford Companion to American Law (New York, Oxford University Press, 2002). He is also the author of The Law of the Land: A History of the Supreme Court (Prince Frederick, Maryland: Recorded Books, 2003, fourteen 35-minute lectures on the history of the Supreme Court of the United States), and The Magic Mirror: Law in American History (New York, Oxford University Press, 1989; 2nd revised edition forthcoming in 2006). His books have been main and alternate selections of the History Book Club and the Book of the Month Club.

He received his doctorate in 1972 from the University of Minnesota, a master's degree in 1967 from Syracuse University and a master of studies in law from Yale University in 1980.

Hall is available for print and broadcast interviews, guest commentary and expert analysis. You can view several photos here: https://www.albany.edu/president/. For information, please contact the University at Albany Office of Media Relations or contact Kermit Hall directly.