Freedom of Information (FOI)

You need to know what this is and how to fight for it.

In a democracy, the idea is, the workings of government should be transparent. That means that when officials meet to make decisions, we all get to be there with them if we want. And when they make those decisions, pass laws, order investigations, keep track of their business, we get to see all the paperwork (or computer files) we want.  Open access to records has been the law of the land in the US since the Lyndon Johnson years. That's at the countrywide level. Each of the states has its own FOI or Sunshine law.

This is much more than many countries in the world, as befits a superpower democracy, like ours. But don't kid yourself. Getting records is not always easy or automatic as reading this might make you think.

PLEASE PICK UP ONE OF THE FREE COPIES OF THE ALBANY TIMES UNION ON CAMPUS TODAY (3/19)!!

In a couple of stories by a University of Missouri intern working at the paper, you'll see how things really work. In NY State, for example, death records are considered private. You can't get them. In other states where the records are open to inspection by the public and press important stories have been done on issues of public health, hospital efficiency and government performance. Reporters and scientific researchers here cannot do similar work.

The TU also found that most public agencies just kind of ignore requests for information despite the law.