What happens when you file a request for basic FOIA response information with the federal government?
Pretty much what you'd expect, FAIL.
The test was conducted by a project at Syracuse University. A similar, though not identical, test was conducted last year in Maryland, directed at local governments, by the Maryland-Del-DC Press Association. The results were similar. I'll provide a link in the comments.
The report makes interesting reading, and it's not long. The link's below.
Reposted from the FOI-L list.
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse sent 21 federal agencies identical FOIA requests on Jan. 22nd and 23rd.
Sixty-five business days later, only seven agencies have provided usable data in response to the request.
One agency, the CIA, denied the request, which is for basic records that track the processing of the FOIA requests the agency receives.
Most of the other agencies -- including the Justice Department's Office of Information Policy, which is charged with encouraging compliance with FOIA -- have essentially failed to respond to the request at all.
A new report released today by TRAC's FOIA Project details and rates each agency's response to the FOIA request.
To read the full report, which includes a chart ranking the agencies, go to:
http://foiaproject.org/...
For questions about this report, contact:
Greg Munno at 315.443.3613 orgjmunno@syr.edu
To keep up with the FOIA Project, follow us on Twitter @foiaproject or like us on Facebook:
http://facebook.com/...
To keep up with TRAC, follow us on Twitter @tracreports or like us on Facebook:
http://facebook.com/...
David Burnham and Susan B. Long, co-directors
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse
Syracuse University
Suite 360, Newhouse II
Syracuse, NY 13244-2100
315-443-3563
trac@syr.edu
http://trac.syr.edu