Comment by qingcharles
1 month ago
I reiterate my point from the comments of the companion post. OP lost even while being represented by some of the best civil rights lawyers in the country.
A lot of FOIA requests die because they receive push-back and the requestor lacks the resources to litigate it. You can do it yourself. FOIA litigation is usually not like OP's struggle over data types -- it's usually just to get the court to smack the public body and tell them they are being lazy or overly strict and the court procedures are much simpler. (often the public body will fold as soon as you file)
Also, I wonder if @chaps can give his reasoning on going directly for litigation? In Illinois there is an alternate avenue where you can ask the AG to intervene. (I hate this route myself because it has become slow and toothless)
Going to litigation made sense here because, tbh, I didn't want to deal with the PAC's office taking three years to complete the RFR while never actually understanding the underlying issue. They really stink at interpreting anything technical. Also, I've never done pro bono (I probably could though), but I don't trust myself on procedural matters!
You definitely have the skills to do it yourself if you had to. I totally understand sidestepping the PAC. I've had it work occasionally, especially in the days when they would get back to you in a couple of weeks. Now it's a shitshow.
> Also, I wonder if @chaps can give his reasoning on going directly for litigation? In Illinois there is an alternate avenue where you can ask the AG to intervene. (I hate this route myself because it has become slow and toothless)
There is some discussion here, which you may already have seen:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43176319