TAG / FOIA

Nearly six decades on, FOIA remains a cornerstone of democracy—and despite delays, loopholes and denials in state laws, the fight for transparency endures.

A judge found Fort Smith violated the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act after hiring a candidate charged with felony stalking. The fallout exposes deep cracks in transparency and oversight.

A record 1.5 million FOIA requests in 2024 collide with sweeping staff reductions, leaving public records in limbo.

Connecticut’s DECD wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on bad loans—then punished the whistleblower who uncovered it.

From CIA fudge recipes to $2 million invoices for requests, public officials are making a mockery of transparency laws—often at the public’s expense.

West Virginia legislators are moving to exempt themselves from FOIA. If passed, the bill would end public accountability in the Mountain State.

Legislators have passed over 1,100 exemptions to Florida’s Sunshine Law. From Dale Earnhardt’s 2001 autopsy to the governor’s travel plans, the public are left in the dark.

Nine thousand dollars for a school bus video? That’s the price of government transparency in Virginia. Legislators killed a bill that would have brought costs in line.

Auto-deleting messages have violated the California Public Records Act for over a decade, but it took the threat of a lawsuit to compel compliance from the City of Los Angeles.

The government spent over $1.1 million in 2023 fighting lawsuits filed by citizens for Freedom of Information Act disclosures. They are following the US tradition of secrecy.