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Freedom Of Information Act Essay

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n the narrow cracks between popular conversations on privacy within the last year was a nuanced legal decision that has the potential to impact a rarely discussed expectation of privacy for federal employees while impacting transparency for U.S. government agencies. Enacted on July 4, 1966, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides any person with the right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to federal agency records, except to the extent that such records are protected from public disclosure by one of nine exemptions, or one of three special law enforcement record exclusions. Requests can be made for any agency record, and as recognized by Congress, numerous presidents and the Supreme Court, the FOIA is an important tool of …show more content…

Then-Deputy Administrator Robert Perciasepe had sent a work-related e-mail from his personal account, which was included in the FOIA response package. This seemingly minor event became a significant concern; using personal e-mail to conduct federal business could be an innocent mistake or a convenient alternative to using a government e-mail account, but it could also be an attempt to circumvent federal records laws. Regardless of actual intent, Perciasepe’s e-mail proved that personal accounts were used by a federal employee conducting official business in at least that one circumstance. Landmark sought clarity on this in a meeting with the EPA in March 2013 and later on in various briefs and responses, but the EPA never directly responded to that point. In August, presiding U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued an opinion stating the EPA’s “failure to deny the allegations that personal accounts were being used to conduct official business leaves open the possibility that they were.” Accompanying the opinion was an order permitting Landmark to conduct discovery limited to the following issues: whether and to what extent the EPA administrator, deputy administrator and/or chief of staff utilized personal e-mail accounts to conduct official business during the relevant time periods and whether the EPA intentionally excluded those personnel from the FOIA request response. Allowing discovery is a

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