Oregon Legal Research Blog
In honor of our receipt of the GITMO attorney list, as a result of someone’s FOIA request and then compliments of posting on a law librarian listserve, this post is about FOIA in the law library.
Law librarians (and other types of librarians for that matter) periodically get requests on how to file FOIA requests. In the old days (i.e. pre-web) this was a relatively straightforward (if you knew the secret), but rather mysterious activity (and no more likely than now to get quick results so don’t get your hopes up). Nowadays, not only do most government agencies post their FOIA procedures on the web, but there are also FOIA blogs and columnists (type “foia” into the LLRX search box). So you have no excuse for not doing your homework and preparing a FOIA request that is a thing of beauty. What happens after you file your request is another matter entirely.
Note: For those who are new to FOIA, it’s pronounced, “foy-ya.”