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Background, Application, FAQs, Acknowledgments
Background
In January, 2010, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the National Freedom of Information Coalition announced the creation (PDF/540 KB) of the Knight FOI Fund to support Freedom of Information litigation.
The NFOIC, working with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, sensed that the economic crisis upending traditional media organizations has dramatically cut the ability of the news media, standing alone, to finance guardianship of freedom of information.
We conducted a couple of different surveys—one with open government coalitions and another with media lawyers—and found that our hunch was correct. Nearly 80 percent of NFOIC respondents reported decreasing litigation levels on open government cases, and a subsequent survey of media lawyers confirmed this decline.
So the Knight Foundation stepped up and invested significant resources in plugging the litigation gap by helping us fund important FOI cases that otherwise would go unfiled.
A Brief History of the Knight FOI Fund
More Background about the Need for the Fund
The full MLRC/NFOIC survey here (PDF/650 KB)
Application
The first step: Complete the application.
Next, contact your state FOI group, if you haven’t already. They will forward the request to NFOIC headquarters.
NFOIC Executive Director Ken Bunting will forward the request to the Litigation Committee, which then decides whether to provide assistance. Decisions are made on an ongoing basis; there are no deadlines to apply.
Once the decision to fund has been made—provided the applicant responds quickly—funding can be quickly on its way. Don't delay. Failure to respond in a timely fashion can add weeks to the process.
Any questions about the application can be directed to Ken Bunting, executive director of NFOIC, at buntingk_at_missouri.edu.
FAQs
What does the Knight FOI Fund pay for?
It’s easier to begin by stating that the Fund does not pay for attorneys’ fees. Instead, the fund is aimed at covering the costs of bringing litigation, which would include up-front costs such as court costs, filing fees, depositions and related expenses. The goal is to fuel the pursuit of critical FOI cases, and if attorneys are willing to take cases that otherwise would go unfiled, the Fund exists to ease the upfront expense.
How are cases selected?
Cases are selected by the state coalitions themselves, and should be forwarded to the NFOIC Litigation Committee for consideration with the recommendation of the coalition. The applicants can be media organizations, private citizens or local open government groups. The state FOI coalition should serve as the liaison for the applicant, and should be willing to answer any questions that the Litigation Committee might have about the case and its potential impact on the state of FOI law.
The Litigation Committee will review requests with attention paid to the following criteria:
- Is the proposed litigation meritorious and important? Does the action have potential significant precedent-setting value?
- Does the state FOI coalition recommend action? What are the potential risks involved, and are they outweighed by the arguments in favor of access?
- Does the request ask that the NFOIC join as a party? The NFOIC rarely, if ever, will join as a party, preferring to join amicus briefs instead.
- Has the requester secured counsel? And is it prepared to fund legal costs beyond the NFOIC's contribution?
If the FOI requester wins, what happens?
The NFOIC will ask for reimbursement to the fund of any court costs recovered by the requester in the event of litigation. We’d also ask that we work with you to publicize your victory!
Acknowledgments
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Since 1950, the Foundation has granted more than $400 million to advance quality journalism and freedom of expression. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit http://www.knightfdn.org/.
The National Freedom of Information Coalition is a national network of state freedom of information advocates, citizen-driven nonprofit freedom of information organizations, academic and First Amendment centers, journalistic societies and attorneys. A unit of the Missouri School of Journalism, the NFOIC is an affiliate of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Its mission is to foster government transparency at the state and local level. NFOIC is based at the University of Missouri, home to the nation’s oldest Freedom of Information Center. For more, visit http://www.nfoic.org/.