FOIA Delayed Is FOIA Denied

The purpose of Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is to provide transparency in government, so that the people of Michigan have can fully participate in the democratic process. But that purpose is thwarted if government officials do not produce requested documents in a timely manner. In Grand Rapids in particular, FOIA requests have been known to take over a year to fulfill, even when the amount of staff time needed to fulfill the request is only a few hours. In March 2023 the ACLU of Michigan submitted a FOIA request to the Grand Rapids Police Department that the department estimated would take only 2.25 hours to fulfill, but would not be processed for 8-10 months. After attempts to speed up the city’s response time were unsuccessful, in September 2023 we filed a lawsuit seeking a ruling that the city’s practices violated FOIA and that the excessive delay amounted to a constructive denial of our FOIA request. (ACLU of Michigan v. City of Grand Rapids; ACLU Attorneys Miriam Aukerman and Dan Korobkin; Cooperating Attorney Brad Springer.)