FOIA Appeals
Filing an appeal means asking the agency to reconsider its decision to no release documents or to redact information in documents.
Duff Wilson, an award-winning New York Times reporter who has contributed to textbooks and is a member of the board of directors of the nonprofit training group Investigative Reporters and Editors (New York Times, undated) suggests several appeals strategies in his 2002 essay for the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Wilson suggests that FOIA requesters the regulations and court cases under that law itself (5 U.S.C. 552) when crafting both initial FOIA request and appeal.
He recommends the following tactics when faced with the following exemptions:
Privacy: Phrase requests and appeals to show that the disclosure would “shed light” on government activities and operations as allowed under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Duff, 2002, para 16).
Agency communication: Use “redact and release” because under appellate law factual information in “pre-decision” documents must be released (Duff, 2002, para 17). Even if the agency makes “a case of ‘foreseeable harm’", it still must release the information it can as it redacts non-releasable information (Duff, 2002, para 17).
Trade secrets: The government must show “substantial harm” would occur to a business, person, or impede the agency’s ability to gather the information. It cannot be used to restrict information that is already public or documents prepared by the government using information from outside sources (Duff, 2002, para 18).
Law enforcement: Once the case has finished with the investigation process, such as gone to trial, ended with civil penalties, or ended with unsustained allegations, ask for the documents again (Duff, 2002, para 19).
Duff Wilson, an award-winning New York Times reporter who has contributed to textbooks and is a member of the board of directors of the nonprofit training group Investigative Reporters and Editors (New York Times, undated) suggests several appeals strategies in his 2002 essay for the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Wilson suggests that FOIA requesters the regulations and court cases under that law itself (5 U.S.C. 552) when crafting both initial FOIA request and appeal.
He recommends the following tactics when faced with the following exemptions:
Privacy: Phrase requests and appeals to show that the disclosure would “shed light” on government activities and operations as allowed under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Duff, 2002, para 16).
Agency communication: Use “redact and release” because under appellate law factual information in “pre-decision” documents must be released (Duff, 2002, para 17). Even if the agency makes “a case of ‘foreseeable harm’", it still must release the information it can as it redacts non-releasable information (Duff, 2002, para 17).
Trade secrets: The government must show “substantial harm” would occur to a business, person, or impede the agency’s ability to gather the information. It cannot be used to restrict information that is already public or documents prepared by the government using information from outside sources (Duff, 2002, para 18).
Law enforcement: Once the case has finished with the investigation process, such as gone to trial, ended with civil penalties, or ended with unsustained allegations, ask for the documents again (Duff, 2002, para 19).