Freedom of Information Advocates (“FOIA”) aims to create an avenue for Berkeley Law students to gain practical skills and knowledge relevant to our free speech and access rights as investigative citizens. The First Amendment and various sunshine laws (like the Freedom of Information Act or Public Records Act) operate in tandem to provide the public the right and the tools to question and challenge public institutions. Public records work in particular has been key to pushing forward change across many aspects of our society, and lawyers – now more than ever – have a central role to play in this work.
In step with the university’s history as the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement, Berkeley Law’s FOIA works with journalists and nonprofits to provide legal assistance on First Amendment, freedom of information, and other media law matters. Our primary partner organization, the First Amendment Project, is the oldest and most prominent local group working in this area. Further partnerships with UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism (including the Investigative Reporting Program) offer participants the chance to recontextualize their legal training as a companion to fellow students’ investigative work. FOIA’s members will get the opportunity to work on real issues faced by real people, engaging with journalists, advocates, and academics at uniquely localized levels.
Tasks will largely involve legal research and drafting. All of our work is selected not just to be interesting and important, but also to develop essential lawyering skills, especially those pertinent to public interest and media law work. Research includes identifying updates to case law, statutory amendments, and other documents related to open access and free speech matters. Drafting includes public records requests (from formal writing to email correspondence), producing memos, creating guides for lawyers, researchers, and journalists, and other writing as needed. There will also be workshops / trainings on germane topics, such as: the basics of open records statutes, drafting and filing public records requests, litigating on public records requests, pre-publication review, and other media law issues.
Supervision: Students in Freedom of Information Advocates will be supervised by licensed attorneys from the First Amendment Project.
Time Commitment: This SLP requires a commitment of 15-20 hours per semester, averaging 1-3 hours per week of work. We will have biweekly meetings during the lunch hour that we expect every participant to attend – this time will be used to provide updates, participate in workshops, or co-work on tasks. Date/time will be determined after students have been selected and their schedules are coordinated.
For more information, please contact the student leaders at foiadvocates@berkeley.edu.