Sunshine in Government Initiative

FOIA Examples

Corporations, lawyers, individuals, non-profits, the media

A 2003 Heritage Foundation survey of four federal agencies - General Services Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Education and the Department of Transportation – found that 40 percent of the FOIA requests made over a six month period came from corporations. Lawyers ranked second with 25 percent, individuals third with 16 percent and non-profits fourth with eight percent. The media filed five percent of the requests. http://www.heritage.org/Press/MediaCenter/FOIA.cfm

Non-profit Citizen Groups

Lyn Redwood, president of the Coalition for Safeminds, told the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness on Sept. 8, 2004 that information they obtained through FOIA showed that CDC researchers had found a link between mercury and autism but did not share their findings with the congressional committee or the public.
(Source: Testimony of Lyn Redwood before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness of the House Committee on Government Reform hearing on September 8, 2004)

Jim Chilton, a 5th generation Arizona rancher and member of the Public Lands Council, told the House Forest and Forest Health Subcommittee on April 13, 2005 that he used FOIA to examine Forest Service files in a 1990s fight with environmentalists over grazing. "Utilizing the Freedom of Information Act, we discovered that our official Forest Service files were being stuffed with inaccurate data," he testified.
(Source: Testimony of Jim Chilton before the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health of the House Committee on Resources hearing on April 13, 2005)

Individuals

Gerald Nidy, of Grayson, Ga., wrote the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, "Yes, I've used open records laws. I asked the FBI for information it had on me. It did not include nearly as much as I would have expected. I was in the military but I also had several security clearances at the Nevada test site. I was just sort of surprised they didn't have that. Government should be more open. It is there to serve the public, not to keep secrets from the taxpayers." (Atlanta Journal Constitution, "Voice of Gwinnett - Open government vital to democracy" 3/13/05)

After rates of leukemia spiked upward, local industries were sued in the 1980s for polluting the area's water. Four years ago, the Raymonds discovered that the city's landfill, dormant for 15 years, was bustling with truck traffic. Linda Raymond contacted Woburn, Mass. officials but they stonewalled her. The Raymonds relied on the state FOIA to get answers. They educated the community and held public officials accountable. The Raymonds' triumph stoplights the power of and the need for government sunshine laws. (Parade Magazine, 01/25/2004)

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, a high school government class used FOI laws to expose flaws in the county's jury-selection system. (Parade Magazine, 01/25/2004)