Monday, October 8, 2012

U.S. Supreme Court takes up VA law denying non-Virginians right to FOIA requests


The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that it will hear the appeal of Mark J. McBurney and Roger W. Hurlbert, both non-Virginians. McBurney and Hurlbert were denied Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for government documents because Virginia law prohibits non-Virginians from using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) law.[1]

The two men have charged that Virginia’s law is unconstitutional in that it does not allow everyone use of its FOIA law. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, rejected their claim.[2]

This case should not be a difficult one for the U.S. Supreme Court to settle. Denying citizens of the United States public documents is a clear abridgement of a U.S. citizen’s right to public information, regardless of state citizenship.

If a U.S. citizen from another state wishes to file a FOI request, they should be able to pay a fee and receive the requested information. What Virginia has done instead is put up a barrier to public information that is as contrary to the principles of our country as it is repugnant.

The free flow of public information, regardless of state boundaries, is a part of the U.S. social fabric, a building block upon which our sociopolitical system stands. Thus, neither states nor the federal government has the right to deny public information to its citizens.

I cannot see any reasonable argument for allowing the Virginia law to remain in place. It is yet another law in Virginia that demonstrates a past of distrust, disdain, and disaffection with anyone outside of “the commonwealth.”

This is not an outlook that will carry Virginia easily into the 21st Century.

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