re: Scout's Steve "Rosebowl" Robertson going all in to take down the BearSharks.

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Why isn't the FOIA applicable to a government institution that depends on federal money? After all, we are now in the top tier of government research universities in the nation.

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Because the law says it isn't. Funny things about laws, they only apply to the entities enumerated in the statute. The federal FOIA applies to federal agencies only.

Let's pretend for a second that it did apply to a university. It still does not have a criminal component. If an agency fails to answer a request, the recourse is to file a civil suit in federal court seeking a court order for the release of the records. Happens all the time. There's no fine. Nobody goes to jail.

The only time incarceration or financial penalty comes into play is if the agency refuses to comply with a court order. At that point, a pissed off judge may jail or fine someone for contempt of clout but that still isn't a criminal conviction.

A quick glance shows Mississippi's open records law pretty much mirrors the federal one.