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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
Previous
Archive FOIA Audits
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) |
Forty years since the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) went into effect on July 4, 1967, the FOIA system continues
to be plagued by delay. According to the Archive's latest Knight
Open Government Survey, "40 Years of FOIA, 20 Years of Delay:
Oldest Pending Freedom of Information Requests Date Back to the
1980s," which reviewed 87 agencies and major components,
extensive backlogs persist. Highlights of the report include:
- The oldest pending FOIA requests in the federal government
date back to the 1980s-one from 1987, two from 1988, and three
from 1989.
- Five agencies-State, Air Force, CIA, the Criminal Division
and FBI at Department of Justice-reported FOIA requests that
have been pending 15 years or more.
- One of the oldest requests was filed in 1991 by Don Stillman
with the State Department for documents that asked the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to cut off programs involving
the then military regime in South Korea. These documents were
related to an OPIC case brought by the United Auto Workers union.
Although Mr. Stillman won his case in 1991, his FOIA request
remains unprocessed.
- Ten agencies misreported their oldest pending FOIA requests
to Congress in their FY 2006 Annual FOIA Reports, which are
required by law. These agencies include Agriculture's Animal
and Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Air Force, Commerce,
CIA, Director of National Intelligence, FBI, National Science
Foundation, State, Treasury, and Justice's Office of Information
and Privacy (OIP). [See clarification]* OIP is the office that is supposed to provide
FOIA guidance to the rest of the federal government.
- The CIA said the release last week of its "Family Jewels"
was in response to a 1992 Archive FOIA request that "was,
in fact, the oldest in [their] backlog." However, the "Family
Jewels" request was not the oldest; the oldest
request, also filed by the Archive, has been pending since 1989.
- Justice has led the opposition to FOIA reform legislation
currently pending in Congress, including provisions for improved
reporting and tracking. Yet, three Justice components misreported
their oldest pending requests to Congress. In addition, several
Justice components' responses for this audit were inconsistent
with the responses for previous Archive audits.
- Justice claims reform legislation is unnecessary because President
Bush's E.O. 13,392 will fix the broken FOIA system. Yet, 18
months after the order, agencies are still ignoring their obligations
under the law.
- More than five months after the Archive asked federal agencies
for copies of their ten oldest pending FOIA requests, one-third
have yet to respond. Twelve federal agencies still have not
responded to a similar Archive request from 2005, which has
been pending 550 business days. (The law requires agencies to
respond within 20 business days.)
* CLARIFICATION: The Department of Justice's
Office of Information and Privacy (OIP) has informed the Archive
that the October 22, 2001 request reported as OIP's oldest was
first received by the DOJ-OIP on February 5, 2002. OIP indicated
that the request was not delayed by intra-agency routing, but
likely was delayed as a result of the Anthrax mail screening
program that took place in 2001-2002. Because agencies calculate
their response time from the date of receipt of the request, OIP's
report to Congress listing its oldest pending request as dating
from February 5, 2002 is not inaccurate. |
