[bradleyjg]

My dad put in a FOIA request for my grandfather's FBI file back in April and has gotten nothing but a form letter with a case number so far.

The FOIA law requires agencies to ordinarily respond with twenty business days, thirty business days in "unusual circumstances" and longer than that only in "exceptional circumstances".

However, as bad as the FBI's disrespect for the law is, it doesn't hold a candle to the State Department which has been sitting on a FOIA request of mine since July of 2013. Their attitude seems to be that they don't have to comply with duly enacted laws until and unless compelled to do so by a federal judge.

[threatofrain]

That's exactly how we should think of things too; mechanically. Even if the FBI today were morally ideal and responded to serious requests within the limits of their bureaucratic ability without stonewalling, that's not something we should depend on.

We should depend on levers and mechanisms.