New CJOG Report Out

NEW CJOG REPORT DETAILS FOIA WOES: A new analysis from the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government documents the steady erosion of federal FOIA. The report notes “current government handling of FOIA requests is deteriorating” across the government agencies. Some highlights:

-- Two of every five FOIA requests filed in 2006 were not processed.

-- Number of exemptions cited to support the withholding of information has increased 83% since 1998.

-- The number of FOIA denials increased 10% in 2006.

-- Cost of processing FOIA requests is up 40 percent since 1998, even though agencies are processing 20 percent fewer requests.

-- “Most people are waiting longer” for FOIA information.

Additionally, the report notes that the DOJ is “consistently granted the lowest percentage of [FOIA] appeals of any agency — only 4% in 2006.” The DOJ’s “rate of grant-making is down 70%” than that of President Clinton.

For a full copy of the report, head to CJOG.