Brief Ten - Freedom of Information Act
Patience is a Virtue
How much do we really know about our government? Well, if we are honest, we can know, however much we want. The Freedom of Information Act gives public the right to access federal documentation. In fact, "it is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government". However, how much freedom do we truly have? Today we will dive into this act and see how much tug we have on the leash and what may keep us from accessing some of this information.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is defined as a piece of legislation that grants public access to documents or other data in the possession of a government agency or public authority, unless the information falls into a category that is specifically excluded from the terms of the legislation. What this pretty much means is that almost everyone has access to what is going on within the government. Since it was passed in 1966, officials must have nothing to hide or they will be sought out, most commonly by the media.
Journalists are the group most widely known to take advantage of this act. As a group whose their job entails diggings for information, access to government or public records is a quick and effective method of getting what they need. However, the process is rather grueling. To receive access to protected resources you have to go down to the records office and apply to receive the documents. Government officials have worked extra hard to make this process extremely difficult. Most of these records buildings are understaffed; therefore the process is drug out. With journalism being a work of deadlines, there isn't much time to wit, and sometimes the deadline arrives before the records do, and the writers are left with nothing.
While the Freedom of Information Act provides a sense of liberty to the public, there have been a handful of times where the access was denied. In Chicago 2016, 27 cases of record disputes were recorded. An example of these incidents includes a shooting between the Chicago police and Laquan McDonald. McDonald was shot 16 times; however, the police would not release the video. The department argued it would interfere with the investigation and refused to release it. This sort of denial drug the trial on and goes to show how difficult it can be to put this act to use. Eventually the judge ordered the release of the video and the city was forced to pay nearly a hundred thousand dollars in fees. If this doesn't teach you just to hand over the information, I don't know what will.
How much do we really know about our government? Well, if we are honest, we can know, however much we want. The Freedom of Information Act gives public the right to access federal documentation. In fact, "it is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government". However, how much freedom do we truly have? Today we will dive into this act and see how much tug we have on the leash and what may keep us from accessing some of this information.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is defined as a piece of legislation that grants public access to documents or other data in the possession of a government agency or public authority, unless the information falls into a category that is specifically excluded from the terms of the legislation. What this pretty much means is that almost everyone has access to what is going on within the government. Since it was passed in 1966, officials must have nothing to hide or they will be sought out, most commonly by the media.
Journalists are the group most widely known to take advantage of this act. As a group whose their job entails diggings for information, access to government or public records is a quick and effective method of getting what they need. However, the process is rather grueling. To receive access to protected resources you have to go down to the records office and apply to receive the documents. Government officials have worked extra hard to make this process extremely difficult. Most of these records buildings are understaffed; therefore the process is drug out. With journalism being a work of deadlines, there isn't much time to wit, and sometimes the deadline arrives before the records do, and the writers are left with nothing.
While the Freedom of Information Act provides a sense of liberty to the public, there have been a handful of times where the access was denied. In Chicago 2016, 27 cases of record disputes were recorded. An example of these incidents includes a shooting between the Chicago police and Laquan McDonald. McDonald was shot 16 times; however, the police would not release the video. The department argued it would interfere with the investigation and refused to release it. This sort of denial drug the trial on and goes to show how difficult it can be to put this act to use. Eventually the judge ordered the release of the video and the city was forced to pay nearly a hundred thousand dollars in fees. If this doesn't teach you just to hand over the information, I don't know what will.
While our time looking at the Freedom of Information Act was brief, I hope you are motivated to go out and get some information. Just make sure you have a couple of hours, days, or weeks to do it. Understaffed record offices call for long wait times, and stubborn officials make it hard to get your hands on the records you want. However, with a little patience and will power, you can get them and have the information you need. Patience is definitely a virtue.
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