The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a statute that gives citizens the ability to request access to governmental records. (Statutes are governmental interpretations of law, not to be considered laws themselves. The government can enforce their interpretations on 4th Amendment citizens, since they are also creations of the government, but not on sovereigns, who are masters of the government.) Unfortunately, it is not without limitations or restrictions; since it is a creation of the government, it can be modified or removed by the government at any time.
Is there a Common Law way to request information from the government, that cannot be limited or restricted? It seems that there is.
The FOIA statute is based on a Common Law procedure that accomplishes the same goal. So we actually don't even need the FOIA. As a sovereign you are master of the government, and if a record exists you should be able to see it.
Right-to-know laws often exempt certain agencies or entire branches of government from their reach.(66) State legislatures often ease if not eliminate the requirements their state FOI act imposes on them.(67) Congress excused itself from the federal FOIA.(68) In Schwartz v. Dept. of Justice,(69) however, a federal District Court noted that all three branches of government are subject to the common law right of access. It held that the records of Peter A. Rodino Jr., then chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, were subject to common law access rights even though they were exempt under the federal FOIA.
The article doesn't mention how to perform a Common Law request for information. It is most likely done the same way most of the other Common Law procedures work: send them a notice of your demand via registered, certified mail. Give them 30 days to respond. If they have not responded after the terms of your notice, they default and you can take action against them. Bring them to court with evidence of your notice and the default. [This is the part where I need to know more. The court needs to be Common Law, not Equity or Admiralty, since this is Common Law matter. Otherwise they can probably just ignore you.]
