Challenges to FOIA
When it comes to FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act, we’d like to think that there’s not such thing as “too much.” Which is why its great news to hear that the Federal Reserve must release documents that disclose what banks are seeking help from the banking system.
The Fed had argued making that knowledge public would stigmatize borrowers and thus discourage banks in distress from seeking help. A three-judge panel of the appeals court unanimously rejected that argument, stating FOIA “sets forth no basis for the exemption the Board asks us to read into it.” There’s no part of FOIA that allows information to be withheld in order for a bank to save face.
Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, stated “This money does not belong to the Federal Reserve. It belongs to the American people, and the American people have a right to know where more than $2 trillion of their money has gone.” A lovely justification for more information.
Another case of open government is in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the state FOIA law is being challenged. Greene County Technical School District is challenging the constitutionality of a FOIA provision that allows public employee evaluation records (which serve the basis for a suspension or termination) to be released. The Attorney General’s office has come out in support of the provision, stating “there is no reason to doubt that the constitutionality of the challenged statute will be fully and completely defended.”
Still, more information is not always justifiable. Recently, the DC Circuit’s Court of Appeals had to restrict the FOIA response of the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), which apparently acted a little too transparently. The exemption was based on protecting trade secrets and privileged commercial or financial information. With FOIA response backlogs becoming an issue of some concern, it may be ok for governments to be strict about what it will not disclose. And FOIA isn’t always the only, nor the best, source of information.
Sunshine Review has information about your state’s FOIA law, and we have also started #FOIAchat Friday on Twitter, every Friday at 2 pm EST. Join the conversation!
