FOIA News: OIP Publishes 2019 FOIA Litigation and Compliance Report

2019 FOIA LITIGATION AND COMPLIANCE REPORT NOW AVAILABLE

Office of Information Policy, Mar. 17, 2020

This week, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) posted the Department’s 2019 FOIA Litigation and Compliance Report.  In accordance with the FOIA, each year the Department of Justice submits to Congress and the President a report detailing our efforts to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA.  The report also contains a listing of all FOIA litigation cases received and decided in the prior calendar year.  The report highlights the many ways that OIP works to provide guidance, trainings, and counseling to agencies to assist them in their FOIA administration and to promote agency accountability.      

Read more here.

FOIA News: Lawmakers release GAO FOIA report

Today U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), and Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chuck E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) released a Government Accountability Office report on the Freedom of Information Act entitled “Freedom of Information Act:  Federal Agencies’ Recent Implementation Efforts.”

FOIA News: Knight Foundation releases transparency study

Today the Knight Foundation released a transparency report entitled Mapping the Civic Data Universe: Ten Ways to Improve Access to Government Information Through Expanded Interstellar Connections.  The findings are based on analysis of more than 300 organizations, including FOIA Advisor, that have something to do with the access and dissemination of information critical to the people’s ability to self-govern.

FOIA News: ASAP training conference might be delayed

The American Society for Access Professionals is considering whether to postpone its annual training conference scheduled in May. Read ASAP’s update here.

FOIA News: Report Details How Instant Messaging Threatens FOIA

New Report: Federal Agencies Violating Federal Law, Not Preserving Instant Messaging Records

Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Cause of Action Institute, Mar. 16, 2020

Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) and Americans for Prosperity Foundation (“AFPF”) today released an investigative report, Gone in an Instant: How Instant Messaging Threatens the Freedom of Information Act. The report reveals how numerous federal agencies are violating federal records law and guidance from the National Archives by not preserving instant messaging (“IM”) records. Like email in the 1990s, IM’s increasing integration into the workplace is changing the way people do business. In 2014, Congress amended the Federal Records Act to specifically require that electronic messages be retained. Agencies’ failure to preserve records created on IM platforms (Slack, Teams, Hangouts, etc.), which are prevalent in the workplace, threatens to undermine the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) and put much of the federal government in the dark.

Read the full report here.

Read the press release here.

FOIA News: National Freedom of Information Day

March 16th is National Freedom of Information Day, which is celebrated annually on the birthday of President James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution.”   

FOIA News: The 2020 "Foilies" awards

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has revealed the winners of its 2020 “Foilies,” which recognizes the year’s worst government transparency decisions. See list here.

FOIA News: Clinton appeals email deposition order

Hillary Clinton asks appeals court to overturn order for deposition about email server and Benghazi

By Jerry Dunleavy, Wash. Exam’r, March 13, 2020 07:47 PM

Hillary Clinton asked an appeals court on Friday to overturn a judge's order for her to appear for a sworn deposition about her use of a private email server and the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack.

The case stems from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the conservative watchdog Judicial Watch against the former secretary of state. Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled, “The Court agrees with Judicial Watch — it is time to hear directly from Secretary Clinton.” The judicial opinion also ordered former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills to be deposed.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OGIS releases annual report

The Office of Government Information Services has released its fiscal year 2019 annual report, which details its compliance and dispute resolution work, among other activities.

FOIA News: OGIS cancels Sunshine Week event

The Office of Government Information Services has canceled its Sunshine Week event on March 16, 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Announcement here.