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Freedom of Information Act Overview
The Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, generally refers to a federal law that gives citizens, and others, the right to request information from federal government agencies. Certain states also have laws requiring their governments to disclose information to the public that are also sometimes called FOIA requests.
Under the law, federal agencies are also required to disclose certain categories of information, as well as records that are commonly requested.
Importantly, FOIA requires agencies to act with a “presumption of openness.” This means that when a FOIA request is made by a member of the public, the agency must only withhold information as required by law or that would cause harm.
FOIA Process
The federal government’s central website for FOIA urges those making a request ensure that the information they are seeking is not already publicly available. Each agency’s website contains a range of topics.
The FOIA website also notes each agency’s FOIA request process is different. Though most now accept online requests, not all do. Citizens making a FOIA request will have to reference the proper procedure depending on the agencies involved.
FOIA requests can include any agency record and the requestor can ask for the information in any format, such as electronic or printed. However, the agencies are not obligated under the law to spend time or resources researching or analyzing the information subject to a FOIA request. This means that if the FOIA request is broad, the entity requesting the records may receive a deluge of information to sort through.
The FOIA website further recommends simple requests in order to speed up the process. No set time frame is provided – the time each agency takes to respond a FOIA request depends on their backlog and the complexity and size of the request. There have also been reports of instances in which federal agencies have allegedly delayed the process for FOIA requests by failing to increase agency resources as requests have increased.
Federal FOIA requests also require a fee, although this can be waived in certain circumstances.
Those making a FOIA request should also know that some information may be subject to certain exclusions. These exclusions include information that would compromise national defense or foreign policy, agency administrative rules, documents revealing commercial or trade secrets, agency memos regarding civil litigation, personal and medical files, law enforcement records that may result in harm if disclosed, reports used to regulate financial institutions, and oil well data. Also excluded is information that is specifically prohibited from disclosure under other laws.
FOIA and Lawsuits
The U.S. Supreme Court has held “[t]he basic purpose of FOIA is to ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the functioning of a democratic society, needed to check against corruption and to hold the governors accountable to the governed.” [NLRB v. Robbins Tire Co. 437 U.S. 214, 242 (1978).]
Attorneys and members of the public, along with news organizations, use FOIA to obtain government records necessary to provide this public oversight and file a class action lawsuit if necessary.
For example, blogger and “data enthusiast” Matt Chapman unveiled an alleged parking ticket scheme perpetrated by the City of Chicago. According to the blogger, he did some investigating after his car got towed by the city for allegedly being in a construction zone. Facing exorbitant fines and fees, he discovered that his car was not actually parked in a construction zone by researching city databases.
The blogger got his ticket thrown out, but decided to do some more research and says he submitted a FOIA request to the city of Chicago to get more information about their parking ticket system. He allegedly discovered that Chicago had been overcharging for parking tickets to the tune of $200 million. As a result of this and other FOIA requests, a class action lawsuit investigation into Chicago parking tickets was launched.
Do I Need a FOIA Attorney?
Each citizen has the right to make a request under FOIA laws for information from public entities. As noted above, however, these requests can be complicated. Further, while government agencies purport to adhere to a presumption of openness, major news outlets have reported that federal agencies are dragging their feet when it comes to FOIA requests.
An experienced FOIA attorney can help concerned citizens navigate the FOIA process and ensure the appropriate information gets returned in a timely manner after a request.
