GWU National Security Archive Says DOJ Evaluation of FOIA Compliance Too Rosy

The fields of green in an August Justice Department traffic-light scoring report on agency Freedom of Information Act administration are an exaggeration, says the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

The DOJ report (.pdf) assigns a colored grade for 17 metrics to the 99 federal agencies subject to FOIA. The National Security Archive, a highly active FOIA requester, notes in an Aug. 15 blog post that more than 80 percent of the grades are green, suggesting a highly positive picture of FOIA responsiveness among agencies.

"The true state of FOIA in the US is markedly more mixed; the DOJ OIP is engaging in grade inflation," says Nate Jones, archive freedom of information coordinator.

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