I'm not saying they're not legitimate requests (well, except maybe for the use by litigants), Farmgrrl, I'm saying they weren't anticipated in the initial design, and are coming in at far too high volumes. And quite likely, if other processes were working / trusted, people wouldn't resort to ATI as a tool:  they'd know where applications were in processes, or be able to get routine (and scrubbed) data releases.

There are times, too, when there are perverse outcomes: if Public Service advice is not protected, it becomes less frank or less well documented; if competitive information is released, businesses suffer losses (and become less willing to share that information with the government). Both of those are also well-known outcomes of the current regime.

The Government (the political side) indeed shouldn't determine if requests are worthwhile, but there do need to be rules and protections for the small-g government (officials) to follow in deciding which information can be released.