Three new FPF FOIA suits target threats to transparency, press freedom
The Freedom of Information Act gives the public a right to access government records.
The Freedom of Information Act is supposed to shed light on government activity by giving journalists and the public access to government records. But the law is in shambles. From endless delays in response time and unjustified refusals to ridiculously overbroad redactions, FOIA is plagued with problems.
We must fight back against the government’s refusal to comply with FOIA and urge Congress to reform the law and end backlogs of requests, reduce the number of exemptions, and overturn damaging court decisions.
Featured Items
-
The Obama admin’s secret opposition to FOIA reform
At the end of 2014, Congress was on the verge of passing a long overdue reform of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which would have updated the vital transparency law for the digital age. Mysteriously, the bill died at the very last minute, despite it having almost unanimous …
-
The secret rules for using National Security Letters on reporters
After multiple spying scandals in 2013 involving the surveillance of journalists at the Associated Press and Fox News, the Justice Department announced it had updated its “media guidelines” to better protect journalists’ press freedom rights in leak investigations. This was portrayed as a big win for the press, however, the …
-
Leaked FBI documents reveal secret rules for spying on journalists with National Security Letters
Today, The Intercept published leaked documents that contain the FBI’s secret rules for targeting journalists and sources with National Security Letters (NSLs)—the controversial and unconstitutional warrantless tool the FBI uses to conduct surveillance without any court supervision whatsoever. Freedom of the Press Foundation has been suing the Justice …
-
Dozens of news orgs demand DOJ release its secret rules for targeting journalists with National Security Letters
A coalition of thirty-seven of news organizations—including the New York Times, the Associated Press, NPR, USA Today, and Buzzfeed—filed a legal brief over the weekend in support of Freedom of the Press Foundation’s case demanding that the Justice Department release its secret rules for targeting journalists with National Security Letters …
-
An independent journalist explains how the Freedom of Information Act is broken
There are many side effects to being stonewalled: disbelief, anger, disillusionment, and, of course, repeating yourself. I have experienced them all. Since early 2012, I’ve been trying to access evidence from one of the most significant prescription drug-dealing trials in U.S. history, which ended with Dr. Paul Volkman – …
-
New documents show the Obama admin aggressively lobbied to kill transparency reform in Congress
New documents obtained through Freedom of the Press Foundation’s lawsuit against the Justice Department reveal that the Obama administration - the self described “most transparent administration ever” - aggressively lobbied behind the scenes in 2014 to kill modest Freedom of Information Act reform that had virtually unanimous support in Congress. …
-
New documents shed light on the Justice Dept’s secret rules for targeting journalists with National Security Letters
In July 2015, Freedom of the Press Foundation sued the Justice Department (DOJ) over the agency’s secret rules governing how the FBI can target members of the media with due process-free National Security Letters, and we have just received documents back in the ongoing lawsuit. These secret rules matter …
-
Freedom of the Press Foundation sues the Justice Department for details about its push to block transparency reform
Freedom of the Press Foundation has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Justice Department for all correspondence the agency has had with Congress over proposed FOIA reform bills that died last year in Congress, despite having unanimous support of all its members. More than a …
-
Announcing a new crowd-funding campaign to help local independent journalists hold police accountable
UPDATE: Thanks to a generous donation from the Dodge Foundation, the next $3,000 in donations will be matched. So go here to donate and see the amount double! Today Freedom of the Press Foundation is proud to announce a new crowd-funding campaign that will fund local journalists around the …
-
We just sued the Justice Department over the FBI’s secret rules for using National Security Letters on journalists
Today we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Justice Department over their unpublished rules for using National Security Letters and so-called informal “exigent letters” to conduct surveillance of journalists.Last year, after a backlash stemming from the surveillance of Associated Press and Fox News journalists, the …
Something went wrong and your email updates subscription could not be processed. Please visit our signup page and try again.
Thanks for helping us protect FOIA and the right of the press and public to know what the government is up to.
Share this message on social media: