Justice Department Site Supports Open Government

As part of President Obama’s Open Government Partnership, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would start a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) dashboard.
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As part of President Obama’s Open Government Partnership, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would start a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) dashboard. This feature is part of the FOIA.gov portal and will be a “comprehensive resource for government-wide FOIA compliance data and educational information,” according to a DOJ statement. Users will be able to create reports about FOIA compliance, get digitized legislative histories and speeches from attorneys general going back to 1933.

“The next step is to improve and streamline the administration of the FOIA. Improving this process will allow agencies to respond to requests more quickly and will further reduce backlogs,” according to the DOJ statement.

Freedom of Information Act requests are required by law to be handled promptly and affordably. However, in practice this is not always the case. Unreasonable wait times and excessive charges for copying fees have been issues. Making information available digitally could resolve the problem.

Mary Silver
Mary Silver
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Mary Silver writes columns, grows herbs, hikes, and admires the sky. She likes critters, and thinks the best part of being a journalist is learning new stuff all the time. She has a Masters from Emory University, serves on the board of the Georgia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and belongs to the Association of Health Care Journalists.
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