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No lawyer hear by a long shot, and couldn't actually find the real court records casually but I think the idea is that the suit is likely some sort of 'cease th
by cat199 9y ago
No lawyer hear by a long shot, and couldn't actually find the real court records casually but I think the idea is that the suit is likely some sort of 'cease the initial request' on grounds that the initial request was invalid/conflicts with something else, which then forces the judge to decide the validity of the request under whatever public records law or not..
Still screwy, IMHO, since as I understand it there is a means for the gov't to deny the request, there is usually some appeals process, whatever.. as article states this seems like a way to buck that process and shunt it to another process which has negative consequences for the requestor in the form of legal fees..
- zebrafish 9y agoI think as the defendant you're entitled to a public defender, are you not? If all FOIA requestors simply used the public defender available to them it might cost the government enough money to cause them to either ax the FOIA program (political implications) or simply comply with requests.
- rdtsc 9y agoYou are entitled to a lawyer in a criminal case not a civil case, I think. This is not a criminal case. So you can't afford a lawyer you have to represent yourself. And surprisingly unless it is the exact same branch and department of government forcing it to spend money doesn't teach it a lesson, it just cuts education or start asking for more taxes.
- rbritton 9y agoIn principal the idea would be nice, but all government expenditures are ultimately funded by taxpayers, so there's little reason for them to care how much it costs.