# US Freedom of Information Act **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 15, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959 "2011-05-15T03:58:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/1 "2011-05-15T03:58:18Z")
Big Bother (sic) claims they’ll release the photos of bin Laden’s death to the public at the appropriate time. I wager this translates into “once someone sues under the Freedom of Information Act”. So, when does this Act kick-in? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/2 "2011-05-15T04:07:09Z")
Not sure what you mean by kick in? IIRC after a request gets filed, the gov’t has a month to respond and then the person filing the complain can have the request heard by a court. After that, I imagine the two sides can draw out the appeals process for years if they want to. Dunno what the rule is regarding pictures of bodies under the FOIA, though. I’d think there’d be some sort of protection for, say, pictures of autopsy photos and the like to preserve the privacy of the deceased. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/3 "2011-05-15T04:12:16Z")
I don’t know whether there is specific precedent relating to bodies, but it would be pretty simple to make an argument that the exemption re: US defense/foreign policy interests applies. [Here’s a list of the basic exemptions.](http://www.corporateservices.noaa.gov/foia/foiaex.html) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/4 "2011-05-15T04:12:59Z")
And apparently I’m [right](http://theunrulyoflaw.blogspot.com/2011/01/10th-cir-upholds-foia-exemption-in.html) regarding autopsy photos, at least under some circumstances. Seems reasonable, IMHO. We already have a pretty good idea of the state of Osama’s corpse, I don’t think releasing photos has a lot of news value. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/5 "2011-05-15T04:18:03Z")
There are details about the Freedom of Information Act here: > **[Freedom of Information Act (United States)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_(United_States))** > > The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA /ˈfɔɪjə/ FOY-yə), 5 U.S.C. § 552, is the United States federal freedom of information law that requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased or uncirculated information and documents controlled by the U.S. government upon request. The act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure procedures, and includes nine exemptions that define categories of information not subject to disclosure. The act was intend Th... There are several exceptions to it. The first one seems to apply in this case: > [@](#): > > (A) specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (B) are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order Since fighting Al-Qaeda is currently both a national defense and a foreign policy issue, I imagine those photos have already been classified and could easily be buried forever. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/6 "2011-05-15T13:10:20Z")
Hmm, very enlightening. I am just skimming my thread…will look into this further. Thanks, all! ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/7 "2011-05-15T13:19:06Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Not sure what you mean by kick in? IIRC after a request gets filed, the gov’t has a month to respond and then the person filing the complain can have the request heard by a court. If only things went that quickly… Yes, the government agency involved has to respond within a month, but that response usually just acknowledges receipt of the FOIA request and notifies the sender that more time will be required to fulfill it. It can take more than a decade to actually receive the requested documents. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/8 "2011-05-15T13:22:35Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > There are details about the Freedom of Information Act here: > [Freedom of Information Act (United States) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_(United_States)) > > There are several exceptions to it. The first one seems to apply in this case: > … > Since fighting Al-Qaeda is currently both a national defense and a foreign policy issue, I imagine those photos have already been classified and could easily be buried forever. I agree that DoD classification is an absolute bar to FOIA release. But that doesn’t mean “… buried forever”. Everything DoD classified eventually gets reviewed for downgrade. And at least in the last few years, the default position is “downgrade unless proven otherwise”. Admittedly, in other times under other administrations it’s been more like “keep everything classified unless there’s a specific advantage to the gov’t to lower classification now.” So I can readily beleive " … buried for 50+years.", but not forever. For me personally, 50 years is probably past my time on this planet. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/9 "2011-05-17T06:09:14Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > If only things went that quickly… > > Yes, the government agency involved has to respond within a month, but that response usually just acknowledges receipt of the FOIA request and notifies the sender that more time will be required to fulfill it. It can take more than a decade to actually receive the requested documents. You got that right. It took me almost three years to get only _most_ of a request… and it was about me. Amusingly, the information that was redacted included my own statements (none of which were classified or sensitive) My medical information (which was supplied by me). Strange folks we have running this country. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/10 "2011-05-17T07:12:47Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I agree that DoD classification is an absolute bar to FOIA release. > > But that doesn’t mean “… buried forever”. > > Everything DoD classified eventually gets reviewed for downgrade. And at least in the last few years, the default position is “downgrade unless proven otherwise”. Admittedly, in other times under other administrations it’s been more like “keep everything classified unless there’s a specific advantage to the gov’t to lower classification now.” > > So I can readily beleive " … buried for 50+years.", but not forever. For me personally, 50 years is probably past my time on this planet. Stuff has a way of getting lost over time. I suspect some of this will get misfiled into an incinerator. ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-freedom-of-information-act/581959/11 "2011-05-17T12:33:27Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Stuff has a way of getting lost over time. I suspect some of this will get misfiled into an incinerator. It’s nearly inconceivable to me that these photos “exist” in a paper form and that copies of the original digital versions will not surface. Assuming these photos are viewed and stored with common due diligence there are likely hundreds of copies them - on back up tapes, on the hard drives of people who viewed them, in archived emails - etc., etc., etc. Destroying this type of information - literally obliterating it on all possible place that might store it - is daunting to even think about. Assuming one of was to actually come into possession of a Polaroid or OBL split skull each of us would certainly scan it and share it or at least make copies of the scanned document just in case.