Technically, government organizations must respond to a FOIA request with a denial or grant of access within 20 business days. Note that the agency must only respond within 20 days; it does not have to deliver the records within the 20-day time period. The time period does...
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Federal agencies are allowed to charge “reasonable” costs for responding to your FOIA request. This typically includes fees for the time the record-keeper spends searching for the correct documents as well as the cost of duplicating those documents. See 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A...
DMLP Staff - 04/01/2008 - 8:22pm - 0 comments -
Congress is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Nevertheless, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have enacted their own rules and have allowed substantial public access to their proceedings and records. You can obtain access to...
DMLP Staff - 04/01/2008 - 8:31pm - 0 comments -
If you are looking for information contained in presidential records, there are two main sources you can consult - the Federal Register for the public papers of the President and the Archivist of the United States for records available to the public through the Presidential...
DMLP Staff - 04/01/2008 - 8:36pm - 0 comments -
The Government in the Sunshine Act ("Sunshine Act") governs the right of access to federal agency meetings. Congress passed the Sunshine Act motivated by the idea that citizens have a right to know how the government makes decisions that affect the public interest...
DMLP Staff - 04/01/2008 - 8:49pm - 0 comments -
The Federal Advisory Committee Act ("FACA"), located at 5 U.S.C. App. 2 , gives you a right of access to the meetings of federal advisory committees. Advisory committees are groups formed by the government to give advice or make recommendations to the the...
DMLP Staff - 04/01/2008 - 8:55pm - 0 comments -
All fifty states and the District of Columbia have enacted open meetings laws. These laws generally require state and local agencies, commissions, boards, and councils to provide advance notice to the public of their meetings, to permit any member of the public to attend...
DMLP Staff - 04/01/2008 - 8:58pm - 0 comments -
Federal Criminal Proceedings Trial Proceedings As a member of the public, you have a right to attend criminal trials. See Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia , 448 U.S. 555, 580(1980). This includes the preliminary hearings, the jury selection process, and sentencing and...
DMLP Staff - 04/01/2008 - 11:36pm - 0 comments -
You can inspect and copy judicial records and documents filed in federal court. See Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc. , 435 U.S. 589 (1978). However, your right of access is not absolute, and court documents may be sealed or the records may otherwise be restricted by the...
DMLP Staff - 04/01/2008 - 11:37pm - 0 comments -
All fifty states and the District of Columbia allow public access to their court proceedings. As with federal courts, state court proceedings are presumed to be open to the public in most cases. However, some variation exists on a state-by-state basis. Choose your state...
DMLP Staff - 04/01/2008 - 11:39pm - 0 comments -
