| Washington D.C., March 12, 2021 – The Defense Department finally replied to the National Security Archive’s September 2006 FOIA request early last year. After nearly 15 years of waiting, on January 24, 2020, the OSD/JS FOIA Office wrote:“This pertains to your enclosed Freedom of Information Act request, which you submitted on September 26, 2006. We received your request on the same day and… regret the delay in completing your request.We are continuing to process your FOIA submission among our current workload of approximately 3,163 requests. However, we understand that due to the passage of time and changing needs of requesters, it is possible that you no longer have an interest in the requested information. We need to receive your confirmation of continued interest by January 31, 2020. If we do not hear from you by this date, we will conclude that you are no longer interested in this information and will administratively close your request.” (emphasis added)Seven calendar days was all the time DOD was allowing us to respond to a request our office had been (somewhat) patiently waiting for a reply to for a decade and a half. This is in direct violation of long-standing Department of Justice Office of Information Policy (OIP) guidance that agencies provide requesters *a minimum* of 30 days to respond to these kinds of “still interested” letters.The Defense Department isn’t alone. The National Security Archive’s 2021 Sunshine Week Audit has found that many agencies still abuse “still interested” letters – out of the 84 “still interested” letters we received between November 2019 and the present, 17 provided fewer than 30 days to respond.The issues surrounding “still interested” letters are a microcosm of the broader issues plaguing FOIA: inconsistent reporting; agencies flouting OIP guidance with no meaningful repercussions; and an unwillingness to adopt better technology. The problem has only been exacerbated by COVID-related disruptions to mail service and office life.Unlike the larger problems with FOIA, however, the solution to “still interested” letters is easy: at a bare minimum, agencies should abide by DOJ guidance. Better still – don’t send the letters in the first place. |
A backlog of over 3000 requests? Somebody needs to get busy.