The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral argument on Friday in Ctr. for Investigative Reporting v. DOJ, which concerns access to data stored in the firearms trace database of DOJ’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Watch the hearing here.
FOIA News (2015-2025)
FOIA News: Advanced FOIA web seminar
FOIA News (2015-2025)CommentOn April 20, 2020, the American Immigration Lawyers Association is hosting a panel of FOIA practitioners our who will share their experiences and offer their best FOIA tips and tricks. Details about the program, including registration, pricing, and CLE, are available here.
FOIA News: Recap of FOIA Advisory Committee meeting
FOIA News (2015-2025)CommentUS FOIA Advisory Committee recommends agencies harmonize FOIA and open
E Pluribus Unum, Mar. 6, 2020
Yesterday, the United States Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee met at the National Archives in Washington and approved a series of recommendations that would, if implemented, dramatically improve public access to public information. And in May, it will consider recommending to Congress that it “enact a statutory foundation for disclosure and access for the federal legislative and judicial branches,” expanding transparency and accountability to support agencies and courts
Read more here.
FOIA News: Yale looks at browsing histories under FOIA
FOIA News (2015-2025)CommentA Penny for Your Browsing Habits: Are Browsing Histories “Agency Records” Under FOIA?
By Bernard Bell, Yale L.J., , Mar. 6, 2020
Presumably, federal employees, like the rest of us, use the Internet for official business (and occasionally for personal matters) throughout their workday. Are browsing histories created as a result “agency documents” subject to disclosure under FOIA? A D.C. District Court Judge grappled with the issue in Cause of Action v. White House Office of Management and Budget, — F. Supp. 2d —, 2019 WL 6052369 (Nov. 15, 2019).
Read more here.
FOIA News: State Dep't to amend FOIA regs
FOIA News (2015-2025)CommentThe U.S. Department of State plans to amend its FOIA regulations , according to a draft Federal Register notice scheduled to be published on Friday. Public comments will be accepted for 60 days from the date of publication.
FOIA News: Yale Law School to host FOIA bootcamp
FOIA News (2015-2025)CommentOn March 19, 2020, Yale Law School will host its annual “FOIA bootcamp,” where attendees can learn from experts in the field how to make the most out of government transparency laws. This event is open to the public. More details are available here.
FOIA News: DOJ posts 2019 FOIA annual reports; nearly 859k requests received
FOIA News (2015-2025)CommentFiscal Year 2019 FOIA Data Available
DOJ, FOIA Post, Mar. 4, 2020
The Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to announce that all 118 agencies subject to the FOIA have finalized their Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Annual FOIA Reports and that the Justice Department has uploaded all of the data from these reports onto FOIA.gov.
Read more here.
FOIA News: Oral argument audio available in Bloomgarden v. NARA
FOIA News (2015-2025)CommentThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has released an oral argument recording from Monday’s hearing in Howard Bloomgarden v. NARA. The recording is 22 minutes and 12 seconds.
FOIA News: Census Bureau hosting two Sunshine Week events
FOIA News (2015-2025)CommentOn Tuesday, March 17, 2020, the Census Bureau will host federal employees with live demonstrations of tools used to support open government. The event is open to federal employees and Census Bureau contractors only. See additional details here.
On Wednesday, March 18, 2020, the Census Bureau will celebrate National Sunshine Week with guest speaker, former U.S. Chief Statistician, Dr. Nancy Potok. This event is free and open to the public. Attend in-person or call in. More details are available here.