Sunshine not just in the Sunshine State: The Freedom of Information Act

In March of 2011 the Department of Justice launched its new website, FOIA.gov, which hopes to make all information about the Freedom of Information Act easy to access and user friendly. This website was launched as part of the Department of Justice’s Open Government Plan and hopes to be “a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.” The Open Government Initiative, commenced during Obama’s first year of office, strives to require federal agencies to become more transparent to the public and to encourage public participation.

FOIA.gov takes Florida’s government in the sunshine law one step further by giving citizens all over the United States access to information at the federal level in an easy to use and easy to understand format. The website includes video lessons, advice to the public concerning use of the Freedom of Information Act, an explanation of the Act, the number of Freedom of Information requests received and how to submit a request. Additionally, the site contains a frequently asked questions page including useful information, as well as compilations regarding each agency’s Freedom of Information Data at a glance or through a detailed report complied by the agency or complied by the user. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the site contains contact information for every federal agency, including which agency to request information from and where that information should be sent.

This website is a milestone for the Freedom of Information Act and for information accessibility in general. By compiling all this information in a single website the Department of Justice has illuminated this previously unknown or impossible to access area of the government and has increased access for not only attorneys and practitioners but for the public as well. Not only is this site innovative and user friendly but it leaves room for improvement and public comments on the accessibility of the website, how easy it is to navigate, and up to date contact information for Federal agencies is welcomed.

-Ashley Geary, Legal Intern