Friday, May 20, 2005

Affordable Freedom of Info Acts? Say Goodbye

Slow painful death of the freedom of truth... here is the linchpin: The Justice Dept's enthusiasm for a Supreme Crt decision that effectively says only rich people can challenge a federal bureaucrat’s decision to keep secret government documents that ought to be public. Until now, people who appealed a bureaucrat’s withholding of documents requested under the FOIA could have their attorney’s fees reimbursed by the fed government if their suit was the “catalyst” for the official to reverse the adverse decision. Citizens appealing the bureaucrat’s decision to conceal requested documents can have their legal fees paid by the govt only by gaining a favorable court decision. That means the bureaucrat can wait until the last minute and then provide the documents w/o having to pay the requestor’s legal costs. The Crt’s decision could end FOIA appeals by everybody who doesn’t have a fortune to pay lawyers, such as returning soldiers in need of medical appeals, journalists, and injured workers, injured consumers. This info comes from The Heritage Foundation-- yes-- UBER conservative Heritage Fndt... wow.
Posted by Tina :: 12:03 AM :: 0 Comments:

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