> the Eugene Police Department claimed searching for records and processing the request would take at least 44,816 hours of staff time and cost approximately $2,484,599.04.
44k hours is ~21 years. Beyond absurd
44k hours is ~21 years. Beyond absurd
44,000 hours? For one individual? What are they doing, transcribing with quill pens, and they first have to capture and pluck a bunch of geese in order to get the quills? Even that shouldn't take anything like that long. I can't see any way that such a number is justifiable; they should certainly be force to justify it.
I have paid a small five-figure sum defending myself against various contempt of cop charges (multiple alleged violations over the years); my last arrest was for 0.009 grams [†] of marijuana (literally a flake of potleaf), wherein my Texas defense attorney [0] laid it out clearly: "if the marijuana laws in Texas changed, *I'd be out of the job..!" (boo hoo).
[†] same Class B Misdemeanor for all possession between 0-1.9999 ounces
[0] former Travis County prosecutor, of course; at the time, this should not even have resulted in an arrest ("arrest and release" was the county policy), but Rollingwood gonna Rollingwood (the wealthiest suburb of Austin)
Also, there are many ways to simplify review and redaction processes such that it doesn't cost millions of dollars.