The Electronic Freedom Of Information Improvement Act

Use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act to obtain records from the federal government.

Today, transparency is a widely heralded value, and the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is often held up as one of the transparency movement’s canonical achievements. Yet while many view the law as a powerful tool for journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens to pursue the public good, FOIA is beset by massive backlogs, and corporations and the powerful have become adept at using it for their own interests. Close observers of laws like FOIA have begun to question whether these laws interfere with good governance, display a deleterious anti-public-sector bias, or are otherwise inadequate for the twenty-first century’s challenges. Troubling Transparency brings together leading scholars from different disciplines to analyze freedom of information policies in the United States and abroad—how they are working, how they are failing, and how they might be improved. Contributors investigate the creation of FOIA; its day-to-day uses and limitations for the news media and for corporate and citizen requesters; its impact on government agencies; its global influence; recent alternatives to the FOIA model raised by the emergence of “open data” and other approaches to transparency; and the theoretical underpinnings of FOIA and the right to know. In addition to examining the mixed legacy and effectiveness of FOIA, contributors debate how best to move forward to improve access to information and government functioning. Neither romanticizing FOIA nor downplaying its real and symbolic achievements, Troubling Transparency is a timely and comprehensive consideration of laws such as FOIA and the larger project of open government, with wide-ranging lessons for journalism, law, government, and civil society.

This study provides a preliminary view of the policy issues involved with allowing electronic Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests through the use of the Government Information Locator Service. The author used an exploratory, qualitative methodology consisting of an extensive literature review and a self-administered questionnaire that was sent to 54 Air Force (AF) FOIA managers. The literature review revealed that an informed citizenry is critical to a democratic society. To ensure its citizens have the opportunity to stay informed, Congress has enacted and amended laws to protect public access to federal information. The primary benefits of electronic FOIA requests indicated by AF FOIA managers were faster processing, quicker response, and better customer service. The primary issues involved with electronic FOIA requests concerned legal requirements for original signatures, Privacy Act restrictions, and accountability for receipt of the request. The first recommendation from this research is for the AF to determine the legality of accepting electronic FOIA requests. Next, there is a need for increased standardization concerning how FOIA requests are received and processed. Finally, as a means to possibly decrease the total number of FOIA requests, the AF should be proactive in making more information available to the general public.

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.