WASHINGTON—Attorney General Merrick Garland issued long-overdue guidance yesterday regarding the administration of the Freedom of Information Act. The memo comes more than a year after the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and a group of civil society groups called on the Biden administration to issue new FOIA guidelines that prioritize transparency and the public interest.

The following response can be attributed to Anna Diakun, staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

“We welcome this long-overdue memo but are disappointed by its lack of specificity. We appreciate that the memo affirms the administration's commitment to a presumption of openness and to removing barriers to access. But the memo lacks the kind of detail required to fully translate this commitment into practice.”

In February of 2021, the Knight Institute and a coalition of more than 40 civil society organizations sent a letter to President Biden, asking him to implement a number of much-needed reforms to strengthen government transparency and accountability, including calling for new FOIA guidelines. Read the letter here.

In March of 2021, the Knight Institute, together with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, sent a letter to Attorney General Garland outlining specific recommendations for FOIA reform.

Read the letter here.

Read the Attorney General’s memo here.

For more information, contact: Lorraine Kenny, communications director, [email protected].