The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #141183   Message #3248459
Posted By: GUEST,beardedbruce
01-Nov-11 - 11:29 AM
Thread Name: BS: New rules for FOIA
Subject: RE: BS: New rules for FOIA
This was noted by the ACLU (joined by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and OpentheGovernment.com) in a comment on the proposal. In instances where there is a legitimate grounds for not confirming a document's existence, "the agency should simply respond that 'we interpret all or part of your request as a request for records which, if they exist, would not be subject to the disclosure requirements of FOIA pursuant to section 552(c), and we therefore will not process that portion of your request.' This response requires no change to the current FOIA regulation." Such a response would preserve a requestor's right to appeal to a federal court.