The Right to Know, Jacqueline Klosek: Author Guest Post

The Right to Know is a resource book for citizens seeking to understand, use, and defend their right to know their rights under the freedom of information laws in the United States. It sets out in plain language freedom-of-information best practices for ordinary citizens, activist organizations, journalists, bloggers, and lawyers. It educes practical lessons from dozens of case studies of how the reader can use our freedom of information laws in order to protect the environment, public health and safety and to expose governmental and corporate crime, waste, and corruption. Finally, it shows American readers how their right to know is being progressively curtailed, why the trend is so dangerous to American democracy, and what they can do to help reverse the alarming trend.

Freedom of information is the bedrock of democracy and a leitmotif of the history of American democracy. Freedom of information laws were first passed in Sweden (1766) and the United States (1966). Over the course of the past decade, scores of democracies around the world have followed suit by enacting national legislation enshrining their citizens’ right of access to government information. Yet, since even before 9/11, the United States has been going in the opposite direction, as the federal government has aggressively expanded exemptions from the protections of public access to government information guaranteed by the Freedom of Information Act of 1966 and the post-Watergate sunshine laws. - FROM AMAZON.COM

AUTHOR GUEST POST…The Importance of Freedom of Information Laws

I have long considered myself to be a bit of an activist. A vegetarian since the age of 11, I was interested in environmental protection and animal rights for as long as I can remember. Over time, my interests in various causes continued to grow and expand, branching out to international human rights protection and related issues. During law school, while many of my schoolmates were seeking summer positions with law firms, I secured a fellowship in public international law and went to Switzerland to work with a non-governmental organization focused on human and minority rights.

Despite my interests in activism, I did not become well acquainted with the utility and sheer power of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) as a tool for activists until a few years after I first became a practicing attorney. At the time, I was working on a pro-bono case for an individual who was seeking asylum in the United States after suffering persecution in his home country. I was trained to use the FOIA to obtain information that might allow me to verify information about my client’s case. While using the FOIA for this purpose, I learned about how useful the FOIA could be. However, I also learned a lot about the problems with how the FOIA is administered. For example, it can take an extraordinary amount of time to receive information requested pursuant to the FOIA. Also, the costs of obtaining information can sometimes be prohibitively expensive. In addition, the exemptions to information access can be interpreted so broadly so as to hamper the effectiveness of the right of access.

Still, notwithstanding these drawbacks, I became very interested in the FOIA and the role that it could play in achieving social change. I began to research the issue further and learned a lot about the revelations that were achieved through the use of the FOIA. For example, journalists have used the FOIA to obtain details about how federal money that was intended for recovery efforts post-9/11 and post Hurricane Katrina were actually used for other purposes. I also learned how groups used to the FOIA to obtain documents that would prove that substances present in a variety of products, including children’s toys, threaten human health and safety. My research also revealed that the FOIA was used to obtain startling information about how wild horses that, according to a federal program, were supposed to be adopted were instead sold to foreign slaughterhouses.

In my recently published book, The Right to Know, I explore these and other examples of how the FOIA can be used to reveal important information. My research focuses on the following main areas: (i) protecting the environment; (ii) protecting human health; (iii) protecting safety; (iv) fighting corruption and government waste; and (v) protecting human rights and civil liberties. In addition to exploring these examples, I offer information and tips as to how people may use the FOIA and similar state laws to obtain information from the government about issues that are important to them. I hope that readers will find the examples interesting and provoking. I also hope that readers will find the tips, recommendations, resources and templates useful in their own pursuit of the right to know.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Jacqueline Klosek is Senior Counsel with Goodwin Procter LLP and is the author of the recently published, The Right to Know. She is the author of three other books (War on Privacy; The Legal Guide to eBusiness; and Data Privacy in the Information Age) and is currently working on a fifth book, a work that will examine privacy in health information. Klosek may be reached at: jacquelineklosek@gmail.com or through her web site at: www.jacquelineklosek.com.