Ryan Noah Shapiro (born 1976) is a doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Doctoral Program in History, Anthropology, Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS), a U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) researcher, and an advocate for animal rights.
Work
Shapiro's baccalaureate and graduate studies have dealt extensively with the history of vegetarianism and the animal rights movement. His first publication was an in-depth review of James Gregory's seminal "Of Victorians and Vegetarians: The Vegetarian Movement In Nineteenth-Century Britain". His forthcoming doctoral dissertation is titled "Bodies at War: Animals, The Freedom of Science, and National Security in the United States, 1899-1979" and will focus on the conflict between ethical concerns over animal rights and U.S. national security concerns. In addition to the dissertation, he is also developing a historical map of how the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has handled the animal rights movement. Both projects rely on large amounts of information that, while not necessarily classified, is usually only be made public once formally requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
When agencies of the U.S. Government have refused to process those requests or provided data that is highly redacted or otherwise manipulated, Shapiro has pursued repeated litigation that has been widely publicized.
Shapiro is regarded by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as the "most prolific" FOIA requester, and the FBI has claimed that his requests for information through the FOIA are "irreparably damag[ing] to national security."
Politico has called Shapiro “a FOIA guru at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” leading open government site Muck Rock has called Shapiro “a FOIA super hero,” and Marsh Professor of Journalism at Michigan University, author, and TED Senior Fellow Will Potter has called Shapiro “The FBI’s Worst Nightmare.”
Personal life
Ryan Shapiro was born in 1976 in New York City. Ryan is the brother of Paul Shapiro, former vice president of farm animal protection for the Humane Society of the United States.
In 2005, Stephanie Bain answered a want-ad for a roommate posted by Ryan Shapiro. Although initially platonic, Shapiro would eventually propose to Bain at Ellwood Butterfly Preserve and Beach in Santa Barbara, five years after they first met. In 2011, the Shapiro married Stephenie Bain at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland. The reception was vegan and was covered in the "Vegan Weddings 2012" section of VegNews Magazine.
Ryan and his wife live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Activism
Prior to his FOIA activism and his associated legal efforts, Ryan Shapiro was a leader in the movement to ban foie gras in the State of California. Shapiro, along with colleague Sarahjane Blum, produced the documentary "Delicacy of Despair: Behind the Closed Doors of the Foie Gras Industry" and created a website (www.gourmetcruelty.com), both of which expressly advocate for a ban on the production and consumption of foie gras. Through the film and website, as well as his support for anti-foie gras activists and protesters whose efforts included exposé-style investigations of companies such as Hudson Valley Foie Gras in New York and Sonoma Foie Gras in California, Shapiro played an important role in generating support for the anti-foie gras movement that led to California successfully but controversially banning the product. (Hudson Valley Foie Gras is largely the subject of "Delicacy of Despair".)
Litigation
Ryan Shapiro's first lawsuit was directly related to his dissertation research. After in-depth study of FOIA regulations, Shapiro was able to determine that processing a request for information that names a specific individual, an investigation of a group that individual is affiliated with and includes a privacy waiver from that individual forces a response when provided to the FBI. Shapiro's technique initially worked and he began processing hundreds of FOIA requests formatted in that manner. After initial success, the FBI eventually refused to provide further information in a timely fashion. FOIA decisions are typically provided within 20 days from receipt of a request. The FBI told Ryan Shapiro that his requests would take seven years to review before he would be told if his request would be rejected. Shapiro decided to sue the FBI and retained the services of Jeffrey Light, a Washington, D.C. appellate attorney with an extensive background in pro bono civil rights and FOIA cases.