Is the Freedom of Information Act becoming too slow to matter?

Karen Harper, a senior politics reporter at The Dallas Morning News with over 30 years of experience, submitted a public records request to the Department of Justice. Months later, she still hadn’t received a response.

Jason Leopold has such a storied history using the Freedom of Information Act that federal agencies once dubbed him a “FOIA terrorist.” Now Bloomberg’s leading public records expert, Leopold submits at least one request a day, and sometimes 30 when a story calls for it.

“There’s always been an average of at least a three-month (waiting period),” Leopold said. “It’s gotten way worse.” ...

As wait times stretch from months into years and FOIA offices struggle with staffing shortages and growing backlogs, records that belong to the public are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain.

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