FIVE AGENCIES HAVE PENDING INFO REQUESTS OLDER THAN 15 YEARS; OLDEST PENDING SINCE 1987, 1988, 1989

The Knight Open Government Survey

For More Information Contact:
Tom Blanton/Meredith Fuchs, 202/994-7000

Posted - July 2, 2007

Acknowledgements

Click here for a PDF version of the complete report

Press Release

Survey Highlights

Acknowledgements

Introduction: The Waiting Game

Findings: FOIA Backlogs Out of Control

Conclusion: FOIA Needs Reform

Methodology

Appendix 1: Glossary of Agency Acronyms

Appendix 2: Distribution of Ten Oldest FOIA Requests by Agency

Appendix 3: Comparison of the Archive's 2005 and 2007 Ten Oldest Audits

Appendix 4: Oldest Pending FOIA Requests

Appendix 5: FOIA Requests Pending 15 Years or More

File Not Found
Agencies Violate Law on Online Information
(March 12, 2007)

Pseudo-Secrets
A Freedom of Information Audit of the U.S. Government's Policies on Sensitive Unclassified Information
(March 14, 2006)

A FOIA Request Celebrates Its 17th Birthday
A Report on Federal Agency FOIA Backlog
(March 12, 2006)

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied
The Ten Oldest Pending FOIA Requests
(November 17, 2003)

The Ashcroft Memo
"Drastic" Change or "More Thunder Than Lightning"?
(March 14, 2003)

The Knight Open Government Survey was made possible by generous funding
from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

This report was written by Catherine Nielsen and was edited by Tom Blanton, Meredith Fuchs, Kristin Adair, and Malina Swiatek. Thank you to Barbara Elias for developing earlier versions of the methodology used in this report. Michael Evans deserves our appreciation for his efforts in making our text and data accessible to the public on our Web site at www.nsarchive.org.

Previous National Security Archive audits and Knight Open Government Surveys include:

• File Not Found: 10 Years After E-FOIA, Most Federal Agencies are Delinquent (March 12, 2007).

• Pseudo-Secrets: A Freedom of Information Audit of the U.S. Government's Policies on Sensitive Unclassified Information (March 14, 2006).

• A FOIA Request Celebrates Its 17th Birthday: A Report on Federal Agency FOIA Backlog (March 12, 2006).

• Justice Delayed is Justice Denied: The Ten Oldest Pending FOIA Requests (November 17, 2003).

• The Ashcroft Memo: "Drastic" Change or "More Thunder Than Lightning"? (March 14, 2003).