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The Right to Know: A FOIA Bill of Rights
This FOIA Bill of Rights can be used as a guide by both agencies and requesters and can be included into the FOIA guidance provided by the Department of Justice to agencies, and its provisions and protections even added to the FOIA statute.
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MuckRock survey of FOIA fees points to uneven picture across the U.S.: From $2 in Washington state to $431 per request in Idaho
A fee is charged for about 16% of U.S. public-records requests, according to a MuckRock analysis of our data. The rising costs of records limits government accountability at the state-level but requestors have found ways to lower costs.
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This week’s FOIA Roundup: More watchdogs on face stealing and Ukraine, a showdown in Chicago and local updates
The weekly roundup of what is or should be public record. Something we missed? Let us know!
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This week’s FOIA roundup: Ukraine redactions and new officials, bills and squabbles in the states
The weekly roundup of the latest in FOI. See something we missed? Let us know!
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I paid $125 for this photo of Angela Merkel
After five years of trying to get records out of the Harvard University Police Department, I ended up spending $125 on a high-resolution photo German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This is the story of how and why.
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How do abortion opponents use public records?
Freedom of Information is for everyone, but sometimes brushes up against the rights to privacy and safety. We’ve started a project to learn more.
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Wyoming environmental agency overcharges first request following adoption of new fee policies
Wyoming’s new records fee policies were recently put to the test when the state’s Department of Environmental Quality were found to have charged over $400 for a request that fell well under the state’s new threshold for charging of electronic records.
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Four years after “winning” the Golden Padlock, Massachusetts State Police remains committed to secrecy
More often than not, Massachusetts has been hailed as one of the worst states in terms of access to information, blocking access to the judiciary, the legislature, and the office of the governor. Even more alarming, lengthy response times and frequently cited exemptions by its police departments all contribute to that reputation for restrictiveness. In fact, in 2015, the Massachusetts State Police won a unique award for its “contributions” to access.
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Alabama reaches new milestone in barriers to access
From backlogs at the federal level to legal limitations at state and local, requesters are no strangers to the barriers met in access to information. But every now and then, an agency will make a demand so brazen or just plain bizarre that it’ll bring even the jaded #FOIA community to pause.
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Five lessons from “FOIA Strategies and Tactics”
Last weekend, an anonymously-attributed presentation entitled “FOIA Strategies and Tactics” started making the rounds in the #OpenGov community, offering something for beginners, veterans, and fans of vintage Tex Avery alike. While the whole thing’s worth a read, today we wanted to focus on the five points brought up in the presentation’s conclusion, as they address some often-overlooked elements of the whole FOIA process.