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Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse

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Coordinates: 43°02′25″N 76°08′08″W / 43.0403°N 76.1355°W / 43.0403; -76.1355
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Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse
AbbreviationTRAC
Established1989; 35 years ago (1989)
Location
Coordinates43°02′25″N 76°08′08″W / 43.0403°N 76.1355°W / 43.0403; -76.1355
Directors
Parent organization
Syracuse University
Staff
~10
Websitetrac.syr.edu

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) is a nonprofit and nonpartisan data gathering, data research, and data distribution organization in the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.[1][2]

TRAC collects big data from the federal agencies and maintains a databases of federal enforcement, staffing and financial data.[3][4][5][6][7][8] TRAC also focuses on using the Freedom of Information Act to request such data.[9] The FOIA Project is an initiative of TRAC that monitors federal agency FOIA decisions and practices.[10][11][12]

Over the years, TRAC has been cited in hundreds of news articles.[13]

History

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TRAC was established in 1989 as a research center and was jointly sponsored by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.[14] Susan Long, a statistics associate professor in Whitman School, and veteran New York Times reporter David Burnham served as the founding directors.[9][15]

Barlett and Steele, who won the Pulitzer Prizes for their story on the Internal Revenue Service in 1975 and 1989, couldn’t get the data from IRS and received the data from Long & Burnham instead. This and other inquiries led Long to consider starting an organization dedicated to data collection and analysis.[15]

The website was launched in 1996.[2]

Research and publications

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TRAC Webpage on March 3, 2021

TRAC makes data available to the public through a variety of interactive data tools, user-generated reports, and original research reports. TRAC uses a variety of statistical techniques to verify data received from government agencies. Where possible, TRAC compares new data with prior data, other publicly available data, and data from other agencies to ensure consistency and accuracy. TRAC works with academic researchers to facilitate more sophisticated research projects.[2] The data warehouse and the specialized data mining tools designed, created and maintained by TRAC are run on SAS software backend.[14]

From its FOIA requests, TRAC adds more than 3 billion new records to its database annually (>250 million records per month). Furthermore more than 300,000 monthly records on civil and criminal proceedings are also obtained.[16]

The TRAC website consists of various subsections that list data from specific government agencies and special projects. These sections include:

  • TRACFED offers compiled federal data concerning enforcement (Criminal, Civil, Administrative), staffing, and funding.[1]
  • TRAC-FBI provides compiled data information about the FBI, including its staffing and criminal prosecution, enforcement activities and map and tables.
  • Judges: TRAC is one of the oldest independent organizations covering federal enforcement and federal judges. In 2014, TRAC launched a Judge Information Tool to provide information on and track Performance of federal district court judges on topics such as disparities in judge asylum decisions.[24][25][26] In September 2007, U.S. District Judge Norman A. Mordue ruled against TRAC saying that federal employee information can be withheld by the government from the public.[27] In 2009, a New York Times report cited TRAC data to describe backlogged immigration courts and a 2020 CNN report reported the same issue.[28][29][30]

FOIA Project

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The FOIA Project was created by TRAC to track government agencies' responsiveness to public records requests and to document the growing number of FOIA cases litigated in federal court.[10] The Project maintains a public website with information on federal FOIA cases,[31] agency FOIA processing times, a list of the most active FOIA litigators, and research reports written by TRAC researchers. The Project's research on FOIA litigation has been cited by the New York Times and the Washington Free Beacon.[32]

Evaluation and criticism

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Kevin Blackwell, a senior research associate at the United States Sentencing Commission criticized TRAC in a 2003 paper in the Federal Sentencing Reporter journal, claiming there were inadequacies and discrepancies in its data.[33]

A 2012 issue of Federal Sentencing Reporter was committed to a debate of TRAC's report and criticisms by federal public defenders.[34]

TRAC has been praised by fellows at the anti-immigration think tank Center for Immigration Studies for the quality of the data it provides on immigration as well as the Federal Courts and federal law enforcement organizations.[35][36][37]

Leadership and staff

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David Burnham and Susan Long are the founding directors of TRAC. Burham is former New York Times reporter who works from Washington D.C. while Susan Long is the associate professor of managerial statistics in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at SU.[38][39][40][41][42] TRAC frequently collaborates with faculties from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, The Knight Chair in Political Reporting, and others.[43][44]

TRAC employs multiple Resident Faculty Fellows.[16] Annually, many student fellowships are awarded for research purposes.[45] TRAC also provides educational opportunities for Syracuse students in the areas of data analysis, software development, systems administration, research, graphics and instructional design.[2][46]

Funding

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In addition to critical support from Syracuse University, TRAC has been funded by foundations including Carnegie, Ford, Knight, MacArthur, Rockefeller, New York Times, Haas, Open Society, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, and the CS Fund.[2][10][24][47] TRAC also charges membership fees from their users to help offset the costs of providing services to academics, reporters, attorneys and others.[1]: 70 [2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Roberge, Linda; Long, Susan; Burnham, David; Hassett, Patricia (2007). "Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse and the TRACFED Data Warehouse". Trends in Law Library Management and Technology. 17: 61–74. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "TRAC: About Us". TRAC. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  3. ^ Yackel, Chistine (Spring 2015). "Data Driven" (PDF). Syracuse University Magazine. Vol. 32, no. 1. Syracuse, New York. pp. 40–43. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  4. ^ "About TRAC". The FOIA Project. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  5. ^ Sandler, Rachel (7 December 2015). "TRAC uses public records requests, big data to report on federal agencies". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  6. ^ Preddy, Melissa (June 20, 2011). "TRAC is a trove of FOIA data and story nuggets for business writers". Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  7. ^ Meliker, Shayna (24 March 2008). "Tracking the government: SU-based center compiles and distributes federal information as a resource for public". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  8. ^ Roberge, Linda; Long, Susan; Hassett, Patricia; Burnham, David (1 December 2002). "Technology and the changing practice of law: An entrée to previously inaccessible information via TRAC". Artificial Intelligence and Law. 10 (4). Wolters Kluwer: 261–282. doi:10.1023/A:1025433709192. ISSN 1572-8382. S2CID 8444692. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  9. ^ a b Long, Susan; Hammitt, Harry (1 January 2019). "Increased Use of the Freedom of Information Act by the Media: Exploring What Took the Media so Long". Villanova Law Review. 63 (5): 895–905. ISSN 0042-6229. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  10. ^ a b c "About the FOIA Project". The FOIA Project. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied". SU News. February 3, 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  12. ^ "'When FOIA Goes to Court: 20 Years of Freedom of Information Act Litigation by News Organizations and Reporters'". SU News. January 14, 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  13. ^ "TRAC at Work". trac.syr.edu. TRAC. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  14. ^ a b Long, Susan; Roberge, Linda; Lamicela, Jeffrey (2003). "SAS®-Based Warehouse and Mining Tools Keep Tabs on U.S. Government". SAS Conference Proceedings. 28 (SAS Users Group International 28/SUGI 28). Syracuse, NY: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: 1–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  15. ^ a b c Morisy, Michael (April 7, 2016). "Requester's Voice: TRAC and FOIA Project's Sue Long". MuckRock. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Data Journalism Faculty Opening (Newhouse/TRAC)". The FOIA Project. January 18, 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  17. ^ Schmakel, Madison (4 March 2008). "Professor files lawsuit against IRS for not responding to records request". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  18. ^ Parekh, Eashaa (27 February 2013). "SU study reveals problems with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  19. ^ Aguilar, Julián (4 February 2021). "President Biden's early immigration overhaul has overlooked one growing problem: A massive court backlog". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  20. ^ Grossman, Joshua M. (5 May 2021). "Immigration Law Professors Rely on TRAC's Data to Call on Biden Administration to Reduce Immigration Court Backlog". SU News. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  21. ^ Staff, HSDL (5 April 2006). "TRAC Immigration website launched". Homeland Security Digital Library. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  22. ^ "The Immigration Courts - 66 - Episode 125". Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. April 1, 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  23. ^ Laird, Lorelei (26 November 2019). "Researchers: U.S. Immigration Data Missing or Misleading". Capital & Main. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  24. ^ a b "New TRAC Service Tracks Performance of Federal Court Judges". SU News. October 14, 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  25. ^ "Huge Differences in the Number of Persons Sentenced by Individual Judges – Where Does Your Judge Rank?". Federal Sentencing Reporter. 27 (5): 303–311. 1 June 2015. doi:10.1525/fsr.2015.27.5.303. ISSN 1053-9867. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  26. ^ Long, Susan B.; Burnham, David (1 October 2012). "TRAC Report: Examining Current Federal Sentencing Practices: A National Study of Differences Among Judges". Federal Sentencing Reporter. 25 (1): 6–17. doi:10.1525/fsr.2012.25.1.6. ISSN 1053-9867. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  27. ^ Stanley, Paul (21 October 2007). "Judge denies federal employee information to TRAC". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  28. ^ Preston, Julia (18 June 2009). "Study Finds Immigration Courtrooms Backlogged". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  29. ^ Alvarez, Priscilla (18 September 2019). "Immigration court backlog exceeds 1 million cases, data group says". CNN. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  30. ^ Feere, Jon (June 18, 2009). "Backlogged: More Judges a Partial Fix". CIS.org. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  31. ^ Frazier, Mya (April 20, 2020). "A battered FOIA collides with the $2 trillion bailout". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  32. ^ McCraw, David (2 September 2019). "How The Times Uses FOIA to Obtain Information the Public Has a Right to Know". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  33. ^ Blackwell, Kevin (1 October 2003). "The Problem with TRAC". Federal Sentencing Reporter. 16 (1): 31–32. doi:10.1525/fsr.2003.16.1.31. ISSN 1053-9867. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  34. ^ Berman, Douglas A.; Chanenson, Steven L. (1 October 2012). "New Data and New Questions: TRAC's Contribution to Federal Sentencing". Federal Sentencing Reporter. 25 (1): 1–5. doi:10.1525/fsr.2012.25.1.1. ISSN 1053-9867. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  35. ^ North, David (October 6, 2010). "ICE Denies Data to University Clearinghouse". CIS.org. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  36. ^ Cadman, Dan (January 28, 2014). "Tracking TRAC: Paeans and Pans for the Syracuse University Clearinghouse". CIS.org. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  37. ^ Cadman, Dan (November 3, 2017). "TRAC, Once Again Cutting Sign in the Wrong Direction". CIS.org. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  38. ^ "David Burnham". Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  39. ^ Barghouti, Aisheh (June 15, 2020). "Q&A: Journalist, Author David Burnham Part 1". Digital Privacy News. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  40. ^ Barghouti, Aisheh (June 16, 2020). "Q&A: Journalist, Author David Burnham Part 2". Digital Privacy News. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  41. ^ "Syracuse University Whitman School of Management - Susan Long". whitman.syr.edu. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  42. ^ "Episode 124 - Interview w/ TRAC Co-Founder Dr. Susan Long". Immigration Lawyers Toolbox. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  43. ^ "About". Knight Chair in Political Reporting. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  44. ^ Moran, Claire (2014). "Knight Chair in Political Reporting established: Newhouse50". Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  45. ^ "List of TRAC Fellows". TRAC. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  46. ^ "Students design visualizations for asylum data generated by TRAC". Newhouse School at Syracuse University. July 20, 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  47. ^ Bouvia, Stephanie (21 February 2012). "TRAC program to receive $55,750 grant for project". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
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