Freedom of Information Act (1967)

A federal law outlining the process by which citizens may request government records. The powers of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) were expanded in 1974 to improve the public's access to government documents that track individuals.

A landmark piece of legislation, the FOIA operates under the assumption that records in the possession of agencies and departments of the executive branch of the U.S. government should be accessible to the people. Before the FOIA was enacted in 1967, the burden was on the individual seeking information to establish a clear need to examine government records. No statutory guidelines existed concerning access to information, and those who were denied access had no obvious judicial recourse.

Since the FOIA was enacted, those seeking information are no longer required to demonstrate a clear need for the information; instead, they are granted the automatic right to know and to access. Moreover, should an agency of the government feel that there is merit for a set of records to remain secret or inaccessible to the public, it becomes the responsibility of the government to demonstrate just cause for maintaining secrecy.

Government entities subject to the FOIA include the cabinet departments (for example, the U.S. Departments of Commerce, and Health and Human Services), military departments (for example, the Department of the Navy), government corporations (such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), government-controlled corporations (such as Amtrak), and independent regulatory commissions (for example, the Federal Trade Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission). The FOIA does not apply to elected officials of the federal government, White House staff whose sole function is to serve and advise the president (such as the White House chief of staff), the federal judiciary, private companies, persons who receive federal contracts or grants, private organizations, or state and municipal governments.

According to the law, an initial response to a request for information under the FOIA must be given within 10 working days. Stiff penalties are assessed on agencies that fail to meet that deadline, fail to respond to a request, or attempt to impede the public's access to information.

[Page 276]There are nine important exemptions to the release of information under the FOIA. These include national security information, internal agency rules, information governed by other statutes, proprietary business information, internal government memos subject to attorney–client privilege, documentation concerned with strictly private matters, information pertaining to law enforcement investigations, records of financial institution regulation, and geological or geophysical information pertaining to the location of oil wells. Each of these exemptions pertains to matters of personal sensitivity, corporate privacy, or national security. If individuals seeking information feel that an exemption is unwarranted, they may file a lawsuit for its release. At any time, however, the president of the United States may, by executive order, decree that a piece of information is exempt from the FOIA for purposes of national security or safety; there is no appeal process pertaining to the issuance of executive orders.

Since the passage of the FOIA, citizens, civil liberties groups, and public interest organizations have remained highly suspicious of the law's exemptions. Suspicion has grown even more intense in the period since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Many officials in the executive branch of the government insist that new terrorist threats mean that more information must be kept secret for national security reasons. Critics, however, maintain that the public's right of access to government information constitutes an important check on political and administrative power and that such a check is an essential component of a healthy American democracy, even in a time of increased security threat.

...