President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) into law on July 4, 1966, going into effect the following year.

This started the time where the public gained the right to access records from any federal agency.

FOIA also plays an important role in keeping the government transparent and accountable and has been used to expose a wide range of government incidents ranging from misconduct and waste to threats to public health and safety.

This all began when John Moss, a Democrat was elected to Congress in 1952 during the Cold War Era where he started advocating for more government openness after the firing of several thousand federal employees accused of being communists.

Since then, the FOIA has been one of the medias’ greatest tools.

It is essential to the work we do in holding government officials accountable and maintaining transparency in our reporting.

The requests submitted by The Selma Times-Journal to the Selma City Hall are not unheard of or even outlandish to ask for.

We are asking for the financial documents that even the Selma City Council allegedly claims they cannot access.

We hope for a response to our request and that we are able to report to the fullest of our abilities.