Freedom of Information Act – Asserting Your Right to Know
A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. – James Madison
The federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was enacted in 1966 and was the first law giving citizens the right to access federal agency records. In 1974, following the Watergate scandal, Congress amended FOIA to require greater compliance. The most recent revisions to FOIA now require all federal agencies to maintain a FOIA web page.
When FOIA requests are contested, the dispute tends to center around interpreting language in FOIA regarding the withholding of information. In such a situation, the government believes there is a “sound legal basis” for making the information unavailable.
In March 2014, the United States House of Representatives passed legislation that would reform FOIA by requiring a single, government-wide online portal through which all federal FOIA requests would be submitted. This would be a huge improvement because currently individuals submitting requests must submit them to the specific agency which has control over the desired information. This alone can be daunting because sometimes it is not obvious which agency has control of the information sought.
In addition to the federal Freedom of Information Act, all fifty states have their own version of Public Records laws. For example, in Massachusetts, this law is called the Public Records Law. It mirrors FOIA, though it has some variations, such as every government record in Massachusetts is presumed public unless a specifically stated exemption applies to it. No matter where you’re located, we can help you with your Federal and state based FOIA requests.
The Levine Law Group can help you navigate the various laws and online web portals and help you track your requests. Let us help you assert your right to know what the government is doing by call us at (617)860-6235 or just tell let us your know your questions through our online inquiry form above!