Exam 15: Freedom of Access

For purposes of assessing fees, FOIA requests are divided into categories that include all of the following except:

Sharon Seekrits is a nosy person. She likes finding out everything she can about everyone she knows. She goes to the courthouse and looks up the tax assessments for every home on her block (public record). She goes to the city, county and state budgets to look up the salary of every public employee she knows (public record). She even checks voter records to see whether her friends and neighbors voted in the last election (public, although their actual votes are not). Seekrits realizes that her friend Manny Moons has been corresponding with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to try to get McKinley Avenue declared a protected Indian burial ground. Seekrits files a Freedom of Information request for copies of the letters from the BIA. A BIA official asks Seekrits why she wants the information, but she has no answer. The official has the right to deny access to the file because Seekrits cannot justify her request.

In addition to allowing the public to access government documents, FOIA requires agencies to provide the public with advance notice of meetings and release an agenda of the item(s) to be discussed.

The __________ Act expanded protection of executive branch records by placing authority over them in the hands of the National Archives.

Before FOIA, the _________ gave those with "good cause" who were "properly and directly concerned" with records held by the U.S. government the right to inspect agency paperwork.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act covers all of the following provisions except for which one below?

N. Genio Inlege is an attorney recently admitted to the state bar. Inlege is trying to find supporting case law for a wage dispute case he is handling. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) once prosecuted a case with substantially the same circumstances. Inlege is interested in reviewing the EEOC file on the case to find any assistance possible in handling her case. Under the Agency Memoranda exemption to FOIA, Inlege may request and receive all of the following records except which one?

In denying a FOIA request, the agency may include a(n) ____________ in the response, which is an official list of the withheld records and justifications for the denial of disclosure.

Which of the following is not a possible response of an agency to a FOIA request?

Amy Cusqurie is a journalist in Washington, DC. She writes a daily column and an online blog about the Federal Communications Commission - including its decisions as well as critiques of the five commissioners. One commissioner has become erratic in his stated reasoning. Cusqurie suspects he has health issues adversely affecting his ability to serve. She submits an FOIA request to view the personnel record regarding this commissioner, but she will most likely be denied under what exemption?

Fitz N. Tyme is curious about how Navy Judge Advocate Generals (JAG) are compensated - salary or billed time. Tyme files an FOIA request with the Department of the Navy seeking disclosure of this information. The Department of the Navy may likely deny Tyme's request under what exemption to the FOIA?

Henry "Hip" Zoefaqtoe would like to view records from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) following a reported 10.2 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter in the desert of Nevada near a highly restricted access Air Force base. The USGS file includes photographs of geological effects, statements of injured persons, repair estimates, topographical charts of the area, seismographic readings, and expert opinions on the damage. The file will be continuously updated. Zoefaqtoe's FOIA request is least likely to be granted with respect to which of the following records?

Which of the following is the most acceptable means of posting grades?

Local architect Feng Shui Fasad would like to access architectural renderings of a new monument planned for the Washington, DC area. In order to do so, Fasad must complete the official "Freedom of Information Act Request" form and mail the same to the FOIA Agency.

The presumption of disclosure under FOIA shifted after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 from denying disclosure only when harm is a reasonably foreseeable result of disclosure to when there is a __________.

The legal partnership of Phee, Chaser & Kapaplé is trying to gather evidence to assist in a recent case involving the collision of two vessels. At the time of the collision, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) arrived, investigated the scene, and prepared a report on the findings that included written statements of the captain and first mate of each vessel. When filing a request under FOIA, Phee, Chaser & Kapaplé must prove the legal firm is entitled to the information.

University Chief of Police Hugh Don Wannano wants to protect the privacy of State University students who get in trouble. It is his contention that part of the learning process for students is learning right from wrong, so Wannano wants to keep troubled students from being stigmatized by being labeled criminals. Wannano protects students' identities by claiming that FERPA (the Buckley amendment) protects the privacy of student records. Federal law prevents access to campus police records and crime reports.

Suppose you are seeking information on American soldiers in Afghanistan. Within 24 hours after a national news program airs a brief report of American troops fighting in an area supposedly void of U.S. military presence, the President issues an Executive Order prohibiting release of military reports relating to troop activity in Afghanistan. Your FOIA request for the troop activity reports falls under what exemption to FOIA?

All of the following are included in the definition of "agency" under FOIA except ___ ?

Reporter Dave Lee Scribe is preparing a story on the war in Iraq highlighting the cost of the war. Journalist wanted to make the public aware of how the money was being used and where on suspicion that the money was not being well spent. Scribe submitted an FOIA request to the Department of Defense requesting documents showing what supplies were purchased and where they were sent for use. As a member of the press, Scribe has special privileges - not held by the general public - to access information that is critical to national security.