Freedom of information in the United States

Freedom of information in the United States relates to the public's ability to access government records, meetings, and other information. In the United States, freedom of information legislation exists at the federal level and at the local level.

Federal level

Since the founding of the United States, the public's right to know the affairs of their government has been foundational democracy. James Madison wrote during the United States Constitutional Convention, "The right of freely examining public characters and measures and free communication, is the only effective guardian of every other right."[1][2]

Several federal laws have strengthened the public's ability to access public records.

Federal legislation
Main article: Freedom of Information Act (United States)

The most important was the Freedom of Information Act, signed into law on July 4, 1966, by President Lyndon Johnson.

Proposed legislation

Miscellaneous Authoritative Federal Sources

History

The Holder Memo is part of series of policy memos on how federal agencies should apply FOIA exemptions. Beginning in 1977 with Attorney General Griffin Bell, and continued by Attorney General William French Smith in 1981 and Attorney General Janet Reno in 1993, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced how the executive branch should approach FOIA, its application, and DOJ's defense of agency's actions. In other words, DOJ's position on when they would defend in a FOIA suit has seesawed for about the last three decades.

Reno Memo

The Reno Memo[6] established a "presumption" in favor of disclosure by providing that "it shall be the policy of the Department of Justice to defend the assertion of a FOIA exemption only in those cases where the agency reasonably foresees that disclosure would be harmful to an interest protected by that exemption". It encouraged all government agencies to review FOIA requests in a manner most favorable to openness and to release information, even though it might fall within one of the nine exemption categories, if no "foreseeable harm" would result from the disclosure. The goal was to achieve the "maximum responsible disclosure".

Ashcroft Memo

On October 12, 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a policy memorandum on FOIA to all federal executive agencies. The AG declared the Department of Justice (DOJ) would defend agencies' decisions to withhold documents from a FOIA requester under one of the statute's exemptions "unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an unwarranted risk of adverse impact on the ability of other agencies to protect other important records".

The Ashcroft Memorandum reversed the Reno standard. Agencies were told that in making discretionary FOIA decisions they should carefully consider the fundamental values behind the exemptions—national security, privacy, government's interests, etc.—and to lean in their favor whenever possible. The Ashcroft Memo[7] with its "sound legal basis" standard encouraged (or at least seemed to support) greater use of FOIA exemptions by federal agency personnel.

AG Holder Memo

The Ashcroft Memo was rescinded by Attorney General Eric Holder on March 14, 2009. The AG Holder Memo[8] appears to have reinstated the Reno Memo standard and extends the policy. The policy of the executive branch is to be open, responsive, transparent, and accountable. The current memo encourages the maximum disclosure possible in discretionary exemptions and to, whenever possible, reasonably segregate exempt information and release the rest.

State legislation

All fifty U.S. states and the District of Columbia also have freedom of information laws that govern the public's access to government records at state and local levels.[9] These laws go by many different names including Sunshine Laws, Public Records Laws, Open Records Laws, etc. Additionally, Open Meeting Laws govern the public's access to meetings of public officials or appointed boards.[10]

All Freedom of Information style laws supports the ideal that in a democracy, people have the right to know the business of their government. However, the laws vary in scope and strength among jurisdictions.[1] For example, Florida's Sunshine Law creates both a statutory and constitutional right to access whereas many states only provide the statutory right.[2] Additionally, while a state may have strong legislation the state's compliance with its own laws may negatively impact the public's ability to access records.[11]

Freedom of Information Laws by US State
State Freedom of Information Law Code Section[12] First Enacted Who May Request Records[12]
Alabama Alabama Public Records Law Al. Code §§ 36-12-40; 36-12-41 1923[13] Any citizen
Alaska Alaska Public Records Act A.S. §§ 40.25.110 to 40.25.125; 40.25.151 1900[14] Any person
Arizona Arizona Public Records Law A.R.S. §§ 39–121.01 to 39–121.03 1901[15] Any person
Arkansas Arkansas Freedom of Information Act Ark. Code Ann. §§ 25-19-101 to 25-19-111 1967[16] Citizens of the state/commonwealth
California California Public Records Act Gov’t Code §§ 6250 to 6276.48 1968[17] Any person
Colorado Colorado Open Records Act C.R.S. §§ 24-72-200.1 to 24-72-205.5 1969[18] Any person
Connecticut Connecticut Freedom of Information Act Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 14 §§ 1–200 to 1-242 1975[19] Any person
Delaware Delaware Freedom of Information Act Tit. 29, §§ 10001 to 10007; 10112 1977[20] Citizens of the state/commonwealth
Florida Florida Sunshine Law Fla. Stat. §§ 119.01 to 119.19 1967[21] Any person
Georgia Georgia Open Records Act O.C.G.A. §§ 50-18-70 to 50-18-103 1959[22] Citizens of the state/commonwealth
Hawaii Uniform Information Practices Act (Modified) Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 92F-1 to 92F-43 1975[23] Any person
Idaho Idaho Public Records Act Idaho Code §§ 74–101 to 74-126 1990[24] Any person
Illinois Illinois Freedom of Information Act ILCS 5 §§ 140/1 to 140/11.6 1984[25] Any person
Indiana Access to Public Records Act IN Code §§ 5-14-3-1 to 5-14-3-10 1983[26] Any person
Iowa Iowa Open Records Law Iowa Code §§ 22.1 to 22.16 1967[27] Any person
Kansas Kansas Open Records Act KSA §§ 45–215 to 45-524 1984[28] Any person
Kentucky Kentucky Open Records Act Kentucky Revised Statute Chapter §§ 61.870 to 61.884 1976[29] Residents of the state/commonwealth
Louisiana Louisiana Public Records Law La.R.S. §§ 44:31 to 44:41 1940[30] Any person 18 or older
Maine Maine Freedom of Access Act Tit. 1, §§ 400 to 434 1959[31] Any person
Maryland Maryland Public Information Act Gen. Provis. §§ 4–101 to 4-601 1970[32] Any person
Massachusetts Massachusetts Public Records Law Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 66, §§ 1 to 21 1897[33] Any person
Michigan Michigan Freedom of Information Act Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. §§ 15.231 to 15.246 1977[34] Any person
Minnesota Minnesota Data Practices Act Minn. Statutes §§ 13.01 to 13.99 Ch. 13 Appendix 1974[35] Any person
Mississippi Mississippi Public Records Act Miss. Code Ann. §§ 25-61-1 to 25-61-19 1983[36] Any person
Missouri Missouri Public Records Act Mo. Code §§ 109.180; 610.010 to 610.225 1961[37] Citizens of the state/commonwealth
Montana Montana Public Records Act Montana Code §§ 2-6-101 to 2-6-1020 1895[38] Any person
Nebraska Nebraska Public Records Law Nebraska Statutes §§ 84–712 to 84-712.09 1866[39] Any person
Nevada Nevada Open Records Act N.R.S. §§ 239.010-239.340 1911[40] Any person
New Hampshire Right to Know Law R.S.A. Ch. 91-A:1 to 91-A:10 1967[41] Any citizen
New Jersey New Jersey Open Public Records Act N.J.S.A. §§ 47:1A-1 to 47:1A-13 2002[42] Citizens of the state/commonwealth
New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act NMSA §§ 14-2-1 to 14-2-12 1993[43] Any person
New York New York Freedom of Information Law Pub. Off. §§ 84 to 90 1974[44] Any person
North Carolina North Carolina Public Records Law NCGS Chapter 132–1 to 132-11 1995[45] Any person
North Dakota Open Records Statute NDCC §§ 44-04-18 to 44-04-32 1957[46] Any person
Ohio Ohio Open Records Law Ohio Rev. Code §§ 149.43 to 149.45; 2743.75 1963[47] Any person
Oklahoma Oklahoma Open Records Act Title 51 Oklahoma Statutes §§ 24A.1 to 24A.32 1999[48] Any person
Oregon Oregon Public Records Law O.R.S. §§ 192.311 to 192.513 1973[49] Any person
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Right to Know Law 65 Pennsylvania Statute §§ 67.101 to 67.1310 1957[50] Citizens of the state/commonwealth
Rhode Island Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act P.L. §§ 38-2-1 to 38-2-16 1979[51] Any person
South Carolina South Carolina Freedom of Information Act S.C. Code Ann. §§ 30-4-10 to 30-4-165 1974[52] Any person
South Dakota South Dakota Sunshine Law SDCL Chapter 1-27-1 to 1-27-48 2009[53] Any person
Tennessee Tennessee Open Records Act Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 10-7-503 to 10-7-508 1957[54] Citizens of the state/commonwealth
Texas Texas Public Information Act Gov't §§ 552.001 to 552.376 1973[55] Any person
Utah Government Records Access and Management Act Utah Code Title 63G-2-101 to 63G-2-804 1991[56] Any person
Vermont Vermont Open Records Law Vermont Statute Tit. 1, §§ 315 to 320 1976[57] Any person
Virginia Virginia Freedom of Information Act Code of Virginia §§ 2.2-3700 to 2.2-3715 1968[58] Citizens of the state/commonwealth
Washington Washington Public Records Act RCW §§ 42.56.001 to 42.56.904 1972[59] Any person
West Virginia West Virginia Freedom of Information Act W.Va. Code §§ 29B-1-1 to 29B-1-7 1977[60] Any person
Wisconsin Wisconsin Open Records Law Wisconsin Statute §§ 19.21 to 19.39 1981[61] Any person
Wyoming Wyoming Sunshine Law Wyo. Stat. §§ 16-4-201 to 16-4-205 1983[62] Any person
District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act[63] DC Official Code §§ 2–531 to 2-540 1974[64] Any person

See also

Individuals

U.S.

References
  1. Stewart, Daxton R. "Chip" (2010-07-08). "Let the Sunshine In, or Else: An Examination of the "Teeth" of State and Federal Open Meetings and Open Records Laws". Communication Law and Policy. 15 (3): 265–310. doi:10.1080/10811680.2010.489858. ISSN 1081-1680. S2CID 144106823.
  2. Edwards, K. (2003). "Freedom of information laws". Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications: 53–67. doi:10.1016/B0-12-387670-2/00100-X. ISBN 9780123876706 – via Elsevier Science & Technology.
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  7. "New Attorney General FOIA Memorandum Issued".
  8. http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/foia-memo-march2009.pdf
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  12. National survey of state laws. Richard A. Leiter, Wendy Leiter (9th ed.). Getzville, NY: William S. Hein & Co., Inc. 2022. pp. 807–816. ISBN 978-0-8377-4269-4. OCLC 1343162981.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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