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There is an old saying about good government: that “sunshine is the best disinfectant.” The Freedom of Information Law Act was created in the spirit of this mantra, providing the public a channel to obtain government records. But unfortunately, New York State’s government remains in the dark. Thousands of individuals who submitted a FOIL request 5 or more years ago are still waiting for a response. And these interminable delays are only one of many other obstacles that New Yorkers frequently experience when trying to obtain public information from the government.
S.T.O.P., in our work to expose government surveillance practices, has been on the receiving end of plenty of FOIL delays and exorbitant legal fees from tedious appeals processes. These delays were a part of a lawsuit we recently filed against the NYPD for delaying 42,000 requests over the past four years. The NYPD and other department’s noncompliance with FOIL has resulted in an unending and expensive process that makes efforts to create public records and hold government accountable nearly impossible.
That is why this Sunshine Week – a national bipartisan week in support of open government – S.T.O.P. joined our allies in Albany, urging State legislators to support policies that would put teeth behind FOIL, ensuring the law fulfills its intended purpose of shining light on government practices. Specifically, we called on lawmakers to pass 4 bills: the FOIL Timeline Act, which would end the near endless delays in the FOIL process; the FOIL Reporting Act, which would require agencies to report their FOIL data; the Limiting the Commercial FOIL Exemption Act, which would close a gaping loophole in the law that allows agencies to keep all dealings with corporations secret; and the FOIL Attorneys’ Fees Act, which would require agencies to reimburse the requestors’ legal fees if the FOIL request is taken to and upheld in court.
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