The Freedom of Information Act (Title 5, Section 552 of the United States Code) was enacted in 1966 and provides that any person has the right to request access to federal agency records or information. The FOIA applies to documents held by agencies in the executive branch of the federal government. It defines an agency as the agencies, offices and departments of the Executive branch of the federal government such as the Defense Department, the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Security Council.
The independent federal regulatory agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission or the Environmental Protection Agency.
Federal government-controlled corporations such as the U.S. Postal Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) and others.
Additional independent federal regulatory agencies are the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.
However, it does not apply to all federal entities. Congress, the Federal Courts, and the Executive Office staff such as the White House Chief of Staff and others whose sole function is to advise and assist the president are exempted.
Additionally, some records are protected by the nine exclusions in the FOIA. They are:
(1) National Security- which usually includes information on military plans, weapons, scientific knowledge and data that relates to national security, and CIA records.
(2) Internal Agency Rules- information related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the agency
(3) Governed by other statutes- information that is specifically exempted from disclosure by another statute. Laws have been passed making personal tax data, CIA structure, charges of employment discrimination, identifiable census data and other types of information confidential.
(4) Business Information- trade secrets, commercial or financial information, confidential information, and information obtained from a person.
(5) Internal Government Memos- these are interagency or intra-agency memos or letters that concern confidential communications between an attorney and a client, or information compiled in preparation for a trial. Materials involving advice on recommendations or opinions which are part of the process of government decision-making.
(6) Private Matters- personnel files, medical files, and other files that would lead to an invasion of personal privacy if released, are exempted
(7) Law Enforcement Investigations- any data that is compiled for law enforcement purposes, if releasing it would interfere with enforcement proceedings, deprive a person of the right to a fair trial or an impartial jury, constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, or disclose the identity of a confidential source such as a state, local or foreign agency, a private institution which had provided information on a confidential basis, disclose investigative techniques or legal procedures, or endanger the life or physical safety of an individual
(8) Regulation Of Financial Institutions- this exemption pertains to records related to the examination, operation or condition of certain financial institutions which are subject to federal regulation.
(9) Oil Wells- geological and geophysical information concerning oil well locations. Examples include maps or charts, and files belonging to the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Energy's Federal Power Commission. Oil well information is also protected by Exemption 4.
These exceptions are not mandatory. An agency still has the discretion to release any documents to the requester even after it has established that the information falls into one or more of the exemption categories. Information on making requests can be found in Making an FOIA Request put out by Congress or by contacting the specific agency to find out their procedures and fees.
An interesting note is that even though Exemption 7 makes almost all
FBI files exempt, with the passing of the
Privacy Act of 1974 it is now possible to request those files. The
FBI has even gone as far as scanning some they deem as pertaining to public interest and making them available over the internet at:
http://foia.fbi.gov/index.htm
Thousands of pages of information providing quite a bit of entertainment (especially the ones dealing with the
House Committee on Un-American Activity) can be accessed. As of July 2002 the following is available:
Alcatraz Escape American Friends Service Committee American POWs/MIAs in Southeast Asia Animal/Cattle Mutilation Aryan Brotherhood Atlanta Child Murders Atlanta FBI Field Office -- Hostage Situation
Baby Face Nelson
Baker, Josephine
Ball, Lucille
Barbie, Klaus
Barker-Karpis Gang (summary)
Barnes, George "Machine Gun" Kelly (summary)
Black, Hugo
Black Legion
Black Panther Party-Winston Salem, NC
Blunt, Anthony
Bonnie and Clyde (summary)
Bonus March
Booth, John Wilkes
Bowtie (Profumo Matter)
Brecht, Bertolt
Bundy, Theodore Robert
Burgess, McLean and Philby
Capone, Al
Chavez, Cesar and
United Farm Workers
Churchill, Winston
Clergy and Laity Concerned about Vietnam
Communist Infiltration-Motion Picture Industry (COMPIC)
Council on Foreign Relations
Custodial Detention
Daily Worker
Dalitz, Morris "Moe"
Darrow, Clarence
Deacons for Defense and Justice
DeSalvo, Albert
Dies, Martin
Dillinger, John (Summary)
Donovan, William J.
DuBois, W. E. B.
Earhart, Amelia
Einstein, Albert
Eisler, Hanns
Fard, Wallace D
Faulkner, William
Five Percenters
Flynn, Errol
Ford, Henry
Freedom of Information-Privacy Acts Annual Statistical Report
Freedom of Information-Privacy Acts Reference Manual
Gacy, John Wayne
Galante, Carmine
Gambino, Carlo
Gay Activists Alliance
Genovese, Vito
Giancana, Sam
Greenlease Kidnapping (Summary)
Hammer, Armand/Occidental Petroleum
Hanfstangl, Ernst Franz Sedwick (Putzi)
Highlander Folk School
Hell's Angels
The Hindenburg Disaster
Hitler, Adolph
Hoffman, Abbie (Abbott)
Hoover, J. Edgar
Interpol
Jonestown Summary
Kennedy, John F., Jr.
Kennedy, Joseph P.
Kennedy, Robert F.
Kennedy, Robert F. Assassination (Summary)
Kent State University
King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Korean Airline Flight 007
Krivitsky, Walter G.
Ku Klux Klan
Lattimore, Owen
Lennon, John
Levison, Stanley
Lewis, John L.
Lindbergh, Charles
Little, Malcolm X
Liuzzo, Viola Murder
London, Jack
Long, Huey
Luciano, Charles "Lucky"
Mafia Monograph
Majestic
Mann, Thomas
Mantle, Mickey
Marcantonio, Vito
Marga, Ananda
Marshall, Thurgood
McCarthy, Joseph
Miami, Florida, 4/11/86 Shooting Incident
Miburn (Mississippi Burning)
Monroe, Marilyn
Moorish Science Temple of America
Muhammad, Elijah
National Alliance
Ness, Eliot
Nureyev, Rudolph
Onassis, Aristotle
Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy
Orwell, George
Osage Indian Murders
Parker, Mack Charles
Parsons, John
Picasso, Pablo
Posse Comitatus
Presley, Elvis
Pretty Boy Floyd and Kansas Massacre (Summary)
Project Blue Book
Purple Gang
Purvis, Melvin
Reich, Wilhelm
Rockefeller, Nelson
Robeson, Paul and Eslanda
Robinson, Jackie
Rogers, Will
Roosevelt, Eleanor
Roosevelt Franklin D. (assassination attempt)
Roselli, John
Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel (Summary)
Roswell
Rudolph, Arthur
Rukeyser, Muriel
Sacco/Vanzetti Case
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Siegel, Bugsy
Silvermaster, Nathan Gregory
Sinatra, Frank
Smith, Clarence
Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion
Spellman, Francis Cardinal
Spilotro, Anthony
Steinbeck, John
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Supreme Court
Surreptitious Entries
Telephone Logs/Appointments/Calendars of
J. Edgar Hoover
Tesla, Nikola
Tokyo Rose (Iva Ikako Toguri D'Aquino)
Tolson, Clyde
Tresca, Carlo
Trotsky, Leon
Unidentified Flying Objects
Venona
Von Braun, Wernher
Watergate
Wayne, John
Weatherman Underground
Wilkins, Roy
Winchell, Walter
Windsor, Duke and Duchess
Wright, Richard Nathaniel
Young Communist League
Zwillman, Abner "Longie"