Freedom of Information Act (United States)

1 Background

This article is about the U.S. federal law. For freedom

of information in the fty U.S. states, see Freedom of
information in the United States.

With the ongoing stress on both constitutional and inherent rights of American citizens and the added assertion of
government subservience to the individual, some, particularly representative John Moss, thought it was necessary
for government information to be available to the public. This push built on existing principles and protocols
of government administration already in place.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C.

552, is a federal freedom of information law that allows
for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased
information and documents controlled by the United
States government. The Act denes agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure procedures and grants nine exemptions to the statute.[1][2] This
amendment was signed into law by President Lyndon B.
Johnson, despite his misgivings,[3][4] on July 4, 1966, and
went into eect the following year.[5]

Others, though -- most notably President Lyndon B. Johnson -- believed that certain types of unclassied government information should nonetheless remain secret.
Notwithstanding the White Houses opposition, Congress
expanded Section 3 of the Administrative Procedure Act
as a standalone measure in 1966 to further standardize
the publication of government records, consistent with
the belief that the people have the right to know about
them. The Privacy Act of 1974 was passed as a countervailing measure to ensure the security of government
documents increasingly kept on private citizens.

As indicated by its long title, FOIA was actually extracted

from its original home in Section 3 of the Administrative
Procedure Act (APA). Section 3 of the APA, as enacted
in 1946, gave agencies broad discretion concerning the
publication of governmental records. Following concerns
that the provision had become more of a withholding than
a disclosure mechanism, Congress amended the section in
1966 as a standalone act to implement a general philosophy of full agency disclosure. The amendment required
agencies to publish their rules of procedure in the Federal
Register, 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(1)(C), and to make available
for public inspection and copying their opinions, statements of policy, interpretations, and sta manuals and instructions that are not published in the Federal Register,
552(a)(2). In addition, 522(a)(3) requires every agency,
upon any request for records which. . . reasonably
describes such records to make such records promptly
available to any person. If an agency improperly withholds any documents, the district court has jurisdiction to
order their production. Unlike the review of other agency
action that must be upheld if supported by substantial evidence and not arbitrary or capricious, FOIA expressly
places the burden on the agency to sustain its action,
and directs the district courts to determine the matter de
novo.

2 Scope
The act explicitly applies only to executive branch government agencies. These agencies are under several
mandates to comply with public solicitation of information. Along with making public and accessible all
bureaucratic and technical procedures for applying for
documents from that agency, agencies are also subject
to penalties for hindering the process of a petition for
information. If agency personnel acted arbitrarily or
capriciously with respect to the withholding, [a] Special Counsel shall promptly initiate a proceeding to determine whether disciplinary action is warranted against
the ocer or employee who was primarily responsible
for the withholding.[6] In this way, there is recourse for
one seeking information to go to a federal court if suspicion of illegal tampering or delayed sending of records
exists. However, there are nine exemptions, ranging
from a withholding specically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy
and trade secrets to clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy.[6] The nine current exemptions to the
FOIA address issues of sensitivity and personal rights.
They are (as listed in Title 5 of the United States Code,
section 552):[7]

The Federal Governments Freedom of Information Act

should not be confused with the dierent and varying
Freedom of Information Acts passed by the individual
states. Many of those state acts may be similar but not
identical to the federal act.

3 HISTORY
1. (A) specically authorized under criteria established
9. geological and geophysical information and data, inby an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest
cluding maps, concerning wells.[8]
of national defense or foreign policy and (B) are in
fact properly classied pursuant to such Executive The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 (at 39 U.S.C.
order;[8]
410(c)(2)) exempts the United States Postal Service
(USPS) from disclosure of information of a commer2. related solely to the internal personnel rules and
cial nature, including trade secrets, whether or not ob[8]
practices of an agency;
tained from a person outside the Postal Service, which
3. specically exempted from disclosure by statute under good[9] business practice would not be publicly
(other than section 552b of this title), provided that disclosed.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

such statute (A) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave
no discretion on the issue, or (B) establishes partic- 3 History
ular criteria for withholding or refers to particular
types of matters to be withheld;[8] FOIA Exemption The law came about because of the determination of Con3 Statutes
gressman John E. Moss of California. Moss was the
chairman of the Government Information Subcommittee.
trade secrets and commercial or nancial inforIt took Moss 12 years to get the Freedom of Information
mation obtained from a person and privileged or
Act through Congress successfully.[10] Much of the desire
condential;[8]
for government transparency stemmed from the Departinter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters ment of Defense and Congressional committees evaluawhich would not be available by law to a party other tion of the nations classication system in the late 1950s.
They determined that the misuse of government classithan an agency in litigation with the agency;[8]
cation of documents was causing insiders to leak docpersonnel and medical les and similar les the dis- uments that were marked condential. The committee
closure of which would constitute a clearly unwar- also determined that the lowest rung of the condentiality
ladder condential should be removed. They deemed
ranted invasion of personal privacy;[8]
that secret and top secret covered National security
records or information compiled for law enforce- adequately.[11] The Moss Committee took it upon itself to
ment purposes, but only to the extent that the pro- reform condentiality policy and implement punishments
duction of such law enforcement records or infor- for the overuse of classication by ocials and departmation (A) could reasonably be expected to inter- ments.
fere with enforcement proceedings, (B) would deThe FOIA has been changed repeatedly by both the legprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an imparislative and executive branches.
tial adjudication, (C) could reasonably be expected
to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy, (D) could reasonably be expected to dis- 3.1 Initial enactment
close the identity of a condential source, including
a State, local, or foreign agency or authority or any The Freedom of Information Act was initially introduced
private institution which furnished information on a as the bill S. 1160 in the 89th Congress. When the twocondential basis, and, in the case of a record or in- page bill was signed into law it became Pub.L. 89487,
formation compiled by a criminal law enforcement 80 Stat. 250, enacted July 4, 1966, but had an eective
authority in the course of a criminal investigation or date of one year after the date of enactment, or July 4,
by an agency conducting a lawful national security 1967. The law set up the structure of FOIA as we know
intelligence investigation, information furnished by it today.
a condential source, (E) would disclose techniques
and procedures for law enforcement investigations But that law was actually repealed. During the period beor prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law tween the enactment of the act and its eective date, Title
enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such 5 of the United States Code was enacted into positive
[12]
disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk cir- law. For reasons now unclear but which may have had
cumvention of the law, or (F) could reasonably be to do with the way the enactment of Title 5 changed how
expected to endanger the life or physical safety of the law being amended was supposed to be cited, the original Freedom of Information Act was replaced. A new
any individual;[8]
act in Pub.L. 9023, 81 Stat. 54, enacted June 5, 1967
contained in or related to examination, operating, or (originally H.R. 5357 in the 90th Congress), repealed the
condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for original and put in its place a substantively identical law.
the use of an agency responsible for the regulation This statute was signed on June 5, 1967, and had the same
or supervision of nancial institutions;[8] or
eective date as the original statute: July 4, 1967.

3.4

3.2

1982 Executive Order limiting the FOIA

The Privacy Act Amendments of 1974

Following the Watergate scandal, President Gerald R.

Ford wanted to sign FOIA-strengthening amendments in
the Privacy Act of 1974, but concern (by his chief of
sta Donald Rumsfeld and deputy Dick Cheney) about
leaks and legal arguments that the bill was unconstitutional (by government lawyer Antonin Scalia, among others) persuaded Ford to veto the bill, according to documents declassied in 2004.[13] However, Congress voted
to override Fords veto, giving the United States the core
Freedom of Information Act still in eect today, with judicial review of executive secrecy claims.[14][15]
These amendments to the FOIA regulate government
control of documents which concern a citizen. It gives
one (1) the right to see records about [one]self, subject
to the Privacy Acts exemptions, (2) the right to amend
that record if it is inaccurate, irrelevant, untimely, or incomplete, and (3) the right to sue the government for
violations of the statute including permitting others to
see [ones] records unless specically permitted by the
Act.[16] In conjunction with the FOIA, the PA is used
to further the rights of an individual gaining access to information held by the government. The Justice Departments Oce of Information and Privacy and federal district courts are the two channels of appeal available to
seekers of information.[17]

3.3

3.4 1982 Executive Order limiting the

FOIA
Between 1982 and 1995, President Reagans Executive
Order 12356 allowed federal agencies to withhold enormous amounts of information under Exemption 1(relating to national security information), claiming it
would better protect the country and strengthen national
security.[18]
The outcry from the eect that the Reagan Order had on
FOIA requests was a factor in leading President Clinton
to dramatically alter the criteria in 1995.[19]

3.5 The 1986 Omnibus Anti-Drug Abuse

Act amendments to the FOIA
The FOIA amendments were a small part of the bipartisan Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. Congress amended
FOIA to address the fees charged by dierent categories
of requesters and the scope of access to law enforcement
and national security records. The amendments are not
referenced in the congressional reports on the Act, so the
oor statements provide an indication of Congressional
intent.[20]

The 1976 Government in the Sunshine

3.6 199599 expansion
Act amendments

In 1976, as part of the Government in the Sunshine Act, Between 1995 and 1999, President Clinton issued execuExemption 3 of the FOIA was amended so that several tive directives (and amendments to the directives) that allowed the release of previously classied national security
exemptions were specied:
documents more than 25 years old and of historical interest, as part of the FOIA.[21] This release of information
allowed many previously publicly unknown details about
1. Information relating to national defense,
the Cold War and other historical events to be discussed
[19]
2. Related solely to internal personnel rules and prac- openly.
tices,
3. Related to accusing a person of a crime,

3.7 The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996

4. Related to information where disclosure would constitute a breach of privacy,
5. Related to investigatory records where the information would harm the proceedings,
6. Related to information which would lead to nancial
speculation or endanger the stability of any nancial
institution, and
7. Related to the agencys participation in legal proceedings.

The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996 (E-FOIA) stated that all agencies are required by statute to make certain types of records, created by the agency on or after November 1, 1996, available electronically. Agencies must also provide electronic reading rooms for citizens to use to have access to
records. Given the large volume of records and limited
resources, the amendment also extended the agencies required response time to FOIA requests. Formerly, the
response time was ten days and the amendment extended
it to twenty business days.[22]

3.8

3 HISTORY

2001 Executive Order limiting the a covered agency may inquire into the particular circumstances of the requester in order to properly implement
FOIA
this new FOIA provision.[25]

Executive Order 13233, drafted by Alberto R. Gonzales

and issued by President George W. Bush on November
1, 2001, restricted access to the records of former presidents.
This order was revoked on January 21, 2009, as part
of President Barack Obama's Executive Order 13489.[23]
Public access to presidential records was restored to the
original extent of ve years (12 for some records) outlined
in the Presidential Records Act.[24]

3.9

The Intelligence Authorization Act of

2002 amending the FOIA

In 2002, Congress passed the Intelligence Authorization

Act for Fiscal Year 2003, Pub.L. 107306.[25] Within this
omnibus legislation were amendments to the FOIA (pertaining mainly to intelligence agencies) entitled Prohibition on Compliance with Requests for Information Submitted by Foreign Governments":[26]
Section 552(a)(3) of title 5, United States
Code, is amended
(1) in subparagraph (A) by inserting and
except as provided in subparagraph (E)", after
of this subsection"; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
"(E) An agency, or part of an
agency, that is an element of the intelligence community (as that term
is dened in section 3(4) of the
National Security Act of 1947 (50
U.S.C. 401a(4))) shall not make
any record available under this
paragraph to-"(i) any government entity, other than a State,
territory, commonwealth,
or district of the United
States, or any subdivision
thereof; or
"(ii) a representative of
a government entity described in clause (i).
In eect, this new language precluded any covered U.S.
intelligence agency from disclosing records in response
to FOIA requests made by foreign governments or international governmental organizations. By its terms, it
prohibits disclosure in response to requests made by such
non-U.S. governmental entities either directly or through
a representative.[27] This means that for any FOIA request that by its nature appears as if it might have been
made by or on behalf of a non-U.S. governmental entity,

The agencies aected by this amendment are those that

are part of, or contain an element of, the intelligence
community. As dened in the National Security Act
of 1947 (as amended), they consist of the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency,
the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the National
Reconnaissance Oce (and certain other reconnaissance
oces within the Department of Defense), the intelligence elements of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and
the Marine Corps, the FBI, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Energy, and the Coast Guard, the
Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research in the Department of State, and such
other elements of any other department or agency as may
be designated by the President, or designated jointly by
the Director of Central Intelligence and the head of the
department or agency concerned, as an element of the intelligence community.[25][28]

3.10 OPEN Government Act of 2007

President Bush signed the Openness Promotes Eectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007, Pub.L.
110175, on December 31, 2007. This law, also known
as the OPEN Government Act of 2007, amended the
federal FOIA statute in several ways.[29] According to a
White House press release, it does so by:
1. establishing a denition of a representative of the
news media;"
2. directing that required attorney fees be paid from
an agencys own appropriation rather than from the
Judgment Fund;
3. prohibiting an agency from assessing certain fees if
it fails to comply with FOIA deadlines; and
4. establishing an Oce of Government Information Services (OGIS) in the National Archives and
Records Administration to review agency compliance with FOIA.[30]
Changes include the following:
it recognizes electronic media specically and denes News Media as any person or entity that
gathers information of potential interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to turn the
raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes
that work to an audience.
it extends the 20 day deadline by allowing for up to
10 days between the FOIA oce of the agency and

the component of the agency holding the records and and Exchange Commission (SEC) from requests under
specically allows for clarication of requests by the the Freedom of Information Act. The provisions were
FOIA oce (Eective 12/31/2007).
initially motivated out of concern that the FOIA would
hinder SEC investigations that involved trade secrets of
it calls for each agency to designate a FOIA Public nancial companies, including watch lists they gathLiaison, who shall assist in the resolution of any ered about other companies, trading records of investdisputes (Eective 12/31/2008).
ment managers, and trading algorithms used by investment rms.[34]
it requires agencies to assign tracking numbers to
In September 2010, the 111th Congress passed an act
FOIA requests that take longer than 10 days, and to
repealing those provisions. The act was introduced in
provide systems determining the status of a request.
the Senate on August 5, 2010 as S.3717[35] and given
the name A bill to amend the Securities Exchange Act
it codies and denes annual reporting requirements
of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the
for each agencys FOIA program.
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to provide for certain
disclosures under section 552 of title 5, United States
it specically addresses data sources used to generCode, (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Inforate reports; shall make the raw statistical data used
mation Act), and for other purposes.
in its reports available electronically...

it redenes the denition of an agency record to

include information held for an agency by a government contractor.

4 Notable cases

A major issue in released documentation is government

it establishes an Oce of Government Information
redaction of certain passages deemed applicable to the
Services (OGIS) which will oer mediation services
Exemption section of the FOIA. Federal Bureau of Investo resolve disputes as non-exclusive alternative to littigation (FBI) ocers in charge of responding to FOIA
igation.
requests so heavily redacted the released records as to
preclude needed research.[17] This has also brought into
it requires agencies to make recommendations perquestion just how one can verify that they have been given
sonnel matters related to FOIA such as whether
complete records in response to a request.
FOIA performance should be used as a merit factor.
it requires agencies to specify the specic exemp- 4.1 J. Edgar Hoover
tion for each deletion or redaction in disclosed docThis trend of unwillingness to release records was espeuments.
cially evident in the process of making public the FBI
les on J. Edgar Hoover. Of the 164 les and about eigh3.11 2009 Executive Order permitting teen thousand pages collected by the FBI, two-thirds were
withheld from Athan G. Theoharis and plainti, most noretroactive classication
tably one entire folder entitled the White House Security
On December 29, 2009, President Barack Obama issued Survey. Despite nding out that the Truman Library had
Executive Order 13526, which allows the government to an accessible le which documented all the reports of this
classify certain specic types of information relevant to folder, the FBI and Oce of Information and Privacy put
national security after it has been requested.[31] That is, forth stony resistance to the FOIA appeal process. (I
a request for information that meets the criteria for avail- pg. 27) Some argue that it was not even this sixteen year
ability under FOIA can still be denied if the government series of three appeals to the Justice Department which
determines that the information should have been classi- gained a further opening of the les, but rather the case
ed, and unavailable. It also sets a timeline for automatic of Department of Justice v. Landano which spurred on a
declassication of old information that is not specically break in stolid FBI opposition.
identied as requiring continued secrecy.

4.2 Murder trial

3.12 2010 repeal of FOIA amendments in
A murder trial decided in 1993, Department of Justice v.
Wall Street reform act
Landano, 508 U.S. 165 (1993), involved what was alThe DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Pro- leged to be a felony murder committed during a group
tection Act, signed into law in July 2010, included pro- burglary by defendant Landano. Justice Sandra Day
visions in section 929I[32][33] that shielded the Securities O'Connor wrote the unanimous opinion. In an eort

5 SEE ALSO

4.3 E-mail
In the case of Scott Armstrong v. Executive Oce of the
President, et al., the White House used the PROFS[17]
computer communications software. With encryption
designed for secure messaging, PROFS notes concerning the Iran-Contra aair (arms-for-hostages) under the
Reagan Administration were insulated. However, they
were also backed up and transferred to paper memos.
The National Security Council, on the eve of President
George H.W. Bush's inauguration, planned to destroy
these records. The National Security Archive, Armstrongs association for the preservation of government
historical documents, obtained an injunction in Federal
District Court against the head, John Fawcett, of the
National Archives and Records Administration and the
National Security Councils purging of PROFS records.
A Temporary Restraining Order was approved by Senior
U.S. District Court Judge Barrington D. Parker. Suit was
led at District Court under Judge Richey, who upheld
the injunction of PROFS records.[37]

Freedom of Information Act requests have led to the release of

information such as this letter by J. Edgar Hoover about surveillance of ex-Beatle John Lennon. A 25-year battle by historian
Jon Wiener based on FOIA, with the assistance of lawyers from
the ACLU, eventually resulted in the release of documents like
this one.

to support his claim in subsequent state court proceedings that the prosecution violated Brady v. Maryland,
373 U.S. 83 (1963), by withholding material exculpatory
evidence, he led Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
requests with the FBI for information it had compiled in
connection with the murder investigation.[36]
In defense, the FBI put forth a claim that the redacted
sections of the documents requested were withheld in
accordance with FOIA regulations protecting the identity of informants who gave information regarding case
details. However, O'Connor ruled that those who supplied information had no need to remain anonymous in
the court setting. To the extent that the Governments
proof may compromise legitimate interests, the Government still can attempt to meet its burden with in camera
adavits. The court thus remanded the case to the Circuit Courts and rejected the FBIs claim of condentiality
as being a valid reason to withhold information.

Richey gave a further injunction to prevent a purging of

the George H.W. Bushs administrations records as well.
On counts of leaving the White House clean for the new
Clinton Administration, the Bush group appealed but was
denied its request. Finally, the Clinton Administration
appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, stating that the
National Security Council was not truly an agency but a
group of aides to the President and thus not subject to
FOIA regulations. Under the Presidential Records Act,
FOIA requests for NSC [could] not be led until ve
years after the president ha[d] left oce... or twelve years
if the records [were] classied.[38] The Clinton administration won, and the National Security Archive was not
granted a writ of certiorari by the Supreme Court on these
grounds. According to Scott Armstrong, taking into account labor and material costs, the three presidential administrations spent almost $9.3 million on contesting the
National Security Archive FOIA requests for PROFS email records.[39]

4.4 Secret e-mail accounts and abusive fees

The AP uncovered several federal agencies where sta

regularly use ctitious identities and secret or unlisted
email accounts to conduct government business. Their
use stymied FOIA requests.[40][41][42] In some cases, the
government demanded enormous (>$1 million) fees for
While most individual sources may expect condential- records that appeals show should be available for miniity, the Government oers no explanation, other than mal cost.[40][42]
administrative ease, why that expectation always should
be presumed.[36] Thus, when Theoharis and company
were in the middle of ghting in court to obtain J. Edgar
Hoover les, they may well have beneted from Lan- 5 See also
dano and also Janet Reno's assertions of the governments
Commission on Protecting and Reducing Governneed for greater openness and discretionary releases
ment Secrecy
in 1993

7
Declassication
Freedom of information in the United States
Glomar response

References

[1] Branscomb, Anne (1994). Who Owns Information?:

From Privacy To Public Access. BasicBooks.
[2] 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(F)
[3] FOIA Legislative History. The National Security
Archive. The National Security Archive. Retrieved 24
September 2013.
[4] Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. Lyndon B. Johnson: Statement by the President Upon Signing the Freedom of Information Act., July 4, 1966.. The American Presidency Project. The American Presidency Project.
Retrieved 24 September 2013.
[5] Metcalfe, Daniel J. (23 May 2006). The Presidential Executive Order on the Freedom of Information Act (PDF). 4th
International Conference of Information Commissioners.
pp. 5474. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
[6] U.S. Department of Justice Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) General Information. 2005-10-10. Retrieved
2010-01-03. |rst1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
[7] FOIA updates Vol XVII 4
[8] ACLU Step-by-Step Guide to using the Freedom of Information Act; American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
pamphlet written by Allan Robert Adler, pp. 35, ISBN
0-86566-062-X
[9] USPS: ZIP Codes are Commercially Sensitive Trade
Secrets. The WebLaws.org Blog. November 6, 2013.
Retrieved 7 November 2013.
[10] Gold, Susan Dudley. 2012. Freedom of Information Act.
New York, NY: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.
[11] Gold, Susan Dudley. 2012. Freedom of Information Act.
New York, NY: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.
[12] The enactment of Title 5 into positive law was done by
Pub.L. 89554, 80 Stat. 378, enacted September 6, 1966.
This means that while Title 5 existed before, it was merely
a compilation of laws but not the law itself. Only about
half of the U.S. Code is positive law, meaning the law
itself. See for background on positive law codiation of
the U.S. Code.
[13] Veto Battle 30 Years Ago Set Freedom of Information
Norms: Scalia, Rumsfeld, Cheney Opposed Open Government Bill; Congress Overrode President Fords Veto
of Court Review. Electronic Brieng Book No. 142. National Security Archive (George Washington University,
Washington, D.C.). 2004-11-23.

[14] Memorandum for President Ford from Ken Cole, H.R.

12471, Amendments to the Freedom of Information Act,
September 25, 1974 Source: Gerald R. Ford Library.
Document 10.
[15] Veto Battle 30 Years Ago Set Freedom of Information
Norms National Security archive. 2004.
[16] Your Right to Federal Records: Questions and Answers on
the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act. Electronic Privacy Information Center. 1992.
[17] Theoharis, Athan (1998). A Culture of Secrecy: The Government Versus the Peoples Right to Know. Kansas: University Press of Kansas. p. 27.
[18] Exec. Order No. 12356, 3 C.F.R. 166 (1983)
[19] Brief Amici Curiae of The Reporters Committee for
Freedom of the Press and the Society of Professional
Journalists in support of Leslie R. Weatherhead, Respondent. United States of America, United States Department of Justice, and United States Department of State,
Petitioners, v. Leslie R. Weatherhead, Respondent, in the
Supreme Court of the United States. 1999-11-19.
[20] FOIA Reform Legislation Enacted: FOIA Update Vol.
VII, No. 4. U.S. Department of Justice. 1986.
[21] Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)". Illinois Institute
of Technology Paul V. Galvin Library. Retrieved 200206-04.
[22] USDOJ.gov
[23] Executive Order no. 13489, Presidential Records, 74 FR
4669 (January 21, 2009)
[24] FAS.org
[25] FOIA Post: FOIA Amended by Intelligence Authorization Act. United States Department of Justice Oce of
Information and Privacy. 2002.
[26] Pub.L. 107306, 116 Stat. 2383, 312 (to be codied at
5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3)(A), 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3)(E)).
[27] 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3)(E)(ii) (as amended)
[28] 50 U.S.C. 401a(4) (2000)
[29] Public Law 110-175 OPENNESS PROMOTES EFFECTIVENESS IN OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT ACT OF 2007. Government Printing Oce.
2007-12-31. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
[30] President Bush Signs S. 2488 into Law FAS Project on
Government Secrecy
[31] FAS.org
[32] House holds hearing on controversial SEC FOIA exemption, a September 16, 2010 news media update from the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
[33] Guidance to Sta on Application of Section 929I of the
Dodd-Frank Act (modied: 09/15/2010) from the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission

[34] SEC chief: Agency needs some secrecy, a September 16,

2010 article from CNNMoney
[35] Bill Summary & Status- 111th Congress (20092010)
S.3717 from THOMAS at the Library of Congress
[36] United States Dep't of Justice v. Landano, 373 U.S. 83
(1963).
[37] Theoharis (1998), pp. 151152.
[38] Theoharis (1998), p. 156.
[39] Theoharis (1998), p. 159.
[40] Gillum, Jack (4 June 2013). TOP OBAMA APPOINTEES USING SECRET EMAIL ACCOUNTS.
The Associated Press. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
[41] US ocials found to be using secret government email
accounts. The Associated Press via The Guardian. 4 June
2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
[42] Woolery, Liz (14 June 2013). "'Secret' Email Accounts Raise More Questions, Concerns About Government Transparency. Chilling Eects Clearinghouse. Retrieved 24 September 2013.

External links
U.S. Department of Justice FOIA complete reference
Freedom of Information Act Resources compiled by
LLSDC.org
Stanford Libraries FOIA archive Preserved collection of sites that deal with Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) requests and documents. This includes
government sites that receive and distribute FOIA
documents (aka FOIA reading rooms) as well as
non-prot organizations and government watchdogs
that request large numbers of FOIA documents on
specic topics like national security and civil rights.
Eect on Soviet Piracy in Cold War from the Dean
Peter Krogh Foreign Aairs Digital Archives
Freedom of Information Act. Amend section 3
of the Administrative Procedure Act. Enrolled Acts
and Resolutions of Congress, compiled 17892008.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. July 4, 1966.
Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T (July 4, 1966).
Statement by the President Upon Signing the
Freedom of Information Act."". The American
Presidency Project. University of California Santa
Barbara.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Freedom of Information Act (United States) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_(United_States)

?oldid=667413267 Contributors: Bdesham, Gbroiles, Michael Hardy, Hoshie, Lquilter, Sheldon Rampton, Minesweeper, Andres, Nertzy,
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8.2

Images

File:Great_Seal_of_the_United_States_(obverse).svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Great_Seal_

of_the_United_States_%28obverse%29.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Extracted from PDF version of Our Flag, available here
(direct PDF URL here.) Original artist: U.S. Government
File:Lennon_FBI_Files_Before_HQ-11p1.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Lennon_FBI_Files_
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Contributors: Rei-artur Original artist: Nicholas Moreau

8.3

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