Sunlight for Sale: New Study Exposes Old Flaws in the Freedom of Information Act

Was Scalia right about FOIA and its use and misuse?

By JPat Brown, WhoWhatWhy, May 9, 2024

In the March/April 1982 issue of Regulation, the policy periodical then published by the American Enterprise Institute, a 46-year-old University of Chicago law professor (and editor of the magazine) by the name of Antonin Scalia offered his thoughts on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 

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According to a study published this March by journalism professors A.Jay Wagner and David Cuillier, entitled a “Tale of two requesters: How public records law experiences differ by requester types,” much of what Scalia wrote over 40 years ago remains true of both FOIA and its state and local equivalents. 

Read more here.