FOIA Letter Generator

FOIA Letter: Appeal letter

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Your address 
								Daytime phone number
Date

Agency Administrator 
Agency 
Address

FOIA Appeal

Dear Administrator:

This is an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552.

On (date) I made a FOIA request to your agency for 
(brief description of what you requested). 
On (date), your agency denied my request on the 
grounds that (state the reasons given by the agency). 
Copies of my request and the denial are enclosed.

(When the agency delays:) It has been 
(state number) business days since my request was 
received by your agency. This period clearly exceeds the 20 days provided by the 
statute, thus I deem my request denied. A copy of my correspondence and the postal 
form showing receipt by your office are enclosed.

The information which I have requested is clearly releasable under FOIA and, 
in my opinion, may not validly be protected by any of the Act‘s exemptions.

(Here, insert legal and "public policy" arguments in 
favor of disclosure, if you wish. You are not required to make legal or policy 
arguments to support your appeal; if you simply state "I appeal" the agency will 
review the documents and the justifications given in the original denial. However, 
it is usually a good idea to try to persuade them to release the information. 
See the Federal Open Government Guide (www.rcfp.org/fogg/index.php?i=ex1) for 
further information on any of the specific exemptions cited by the 
agency in their denial of your original request. The descriptions contained there 
should suggest arguments you can make to counter the agency's assertions.)

I trust that upon re-consideration, you will reverse the decision denying me access 
to this material and grant my original request. However, if you deny this appeal, I 
intend to initiate a lawsuit to compel disclosure. (Don't 
include this as an idle threat. But if you do intend to follow up with a lawsuit, 
say so. Often the agency will more closely consider its position when it knows it 
will have to defend it in court soon.)

As I have made this request in the capacity of a journalist (or author, or scholar) and this information 
is of timely value, I would appreciate your expediting the consideration of my 
appeal in every way possible. In any case, I will expect to receive your decision 
within 20 business days, as required by the statute.

Thank you for your assistance.

Very truly yours,

Your signature

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