Sheryl L. Walter

Sheryl Walter has been an advocate of freedom of information both inside and outside the federal government.

While serving as general counsel of the National Security Archive from 1989-1994, she played a major role in successfully litigating FOIA cases that established major precedents for ensuring public access to the records of federal agencies and affirming the rights of authors, freelance writers, and publishers to have fees waived under the act.

Walter’s work helped establish the principle that electronic mail can be a federal record subject to FOIA requests and preservation under the federal records laws.

Now general counsel for the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, Walter also serves as president of the American Society of Access Professionals.