FOIA News: Court refuses to destroy law firm's billing records

Judge Won't 'Destroy' King & Spalding Billing Records the Firm Wants to Pull Back

King & Spalding "asks the court to turn back the clock and treat the sealed material as if plaintiff had never intentionally placed it on the court’s docket. That the court cannot do," U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said in a new order.

By Mike Scarcella, Nat’l Law Journal,  Apr. 21, 2020

A Washington federal judge on Tuesday turned down a request from King & Spalding to destroy billing records the law firm submitted under seal as part of a petition seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees in a public records lawsuit.

King & Spalding withdrew its request for $665,000 in fees in the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit after the federal trial judge, Amit Mehta, said the firm would be required to reveal billing rates and other information submitted under seal in support of the petition for compensation.

Read more here.

FOIA News: SBA needs more time to disclose loan-specific data

Small Business Administration Declines Loan Disclosure for Now

Federal agency says loan-level data for the Paycheck Protection Program will come later

By Rolfe Winkler & Cezary Podkul, Wall St. J., Apr. 21, 2020

The Small Business Administration rejected multiple requests on Monday for detailed information about borrowers in the new Paycheck Protection Program, saying it needed to prioritize its effort to assist businesses.

That decision means that for now the public won’t get a comprehensive look at the $350 billion rescue package intended for Main Street, amid debate over which companies should be getting the money.

Read more here.

FOIA News: EPIC settles lawsuit against NARA for Kavanaugh docs

The Electronic Privacy Information Center announced today that it had entered a settlement agreement with the National Archives and Records Administration stemming from its request for for records pertaining to Justice Kavanaugh's work in the Bush White House. As part of the agreement, EPIC will receive $20,001 for attorney’s fees and costs.

FOIA News: OGIS joins international committee's COVID-19 statement

The Office of Government Information Services joined an April 14th statement  issued by the International Conference of Information Commissioners that emphasizes the importance of the right to access information during the pandemic. Read the OGIS blog post here.

FOIA News: CJR: A battered FOIA collides with the $2 trillion bailout

A battered FOIA collides with the $2 trillion bailout

By Mya Frazier, Columbia Journalism Review, Apr. 20, 2020

There is, of course, never a good time for a pandemic. But the Freedom of Information Act is weaker than it has ever been. A Supreme Court decision in 2019, described by some media law scholars as a “downward spiral toward secrecy,” will make it difficult for the media to fully investigate conflicts of interest and corruption within the stimulus aid package.

FOIA lawsuits, which according to media lawyers can range in cost from $10,000 to $80,000, were already financially untenable, especially for local media outlets. In a 2016 Knight Foundation survey of news leaders, 53 percent said their news organizations weren’t prepared to go to court to fight First Amendment violations, with nine out of ten blaming their reluctance on a lack of money. Such hesitation has consequences: research shows the mere threat of litigation increases agency compliance with foia requests. “There was a time when local media companies owned the atmosphere and carried the ball on foia,” says David Cuillier, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Arizona, who has published widely on the history of foia case law and is president of the board of directors at the National Freedom of Information Coalition. “They’ve just all kind of stopped filing lawsuits.” 

Read more here.

FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee Hearing Scheduled for May 1, 2020

SUMMARY: We are announcing an upcoming Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee meeting in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the second United States Open Government National Action Plan.

DATES: The meeting will be on May 1, 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. EST. You must register by midnight EST April 28, 2020, to attend the meeting.

LOCATION: This meeting will be held virtually. Instructions on how to access will be sent to those who register according to instructions below.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Fight over law firm's billing records

King & Spalding Argues Feds Should Destroy, or Return, Sealed Billing Records

King & Spalding withdrew an attorney fee request after a Washington trial judge said the firm would need to reveal hourly rates and other records. The U.S. Justice Department is opposing the firm's push for an order requiring the government to destroy or return the disputed billing records.

By Mike Scarcella, Nat’l Law Journal, Apr. 18, 2020

King & Spalding and the U.S. Justice Department are locked in a dispute in Washington over whether a trial judge has the power to order the government to destroy or return copies of billing records that the law firm submitted as part of its request for attorney fees in a public records lawsuit.

King & Spalding withdrew its request for $665,000 in legal fees after a federal judge said the firm could not keep certain records sealed on the public docket showing the billing rates of partners and others who had worked on the case. The firm has urged the judge, Amit Mehta, to order the government to destroy or return its hard copies of the disputed records.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Court rules against IRS re: asset forfeiture data

IRS Ordered to Turn Over Records in Seized Asset Data Dispute

By Bloomberg Tax, Apr. 17, 2020

The IRS has to turn over a wider scope of seized asset records under the Freedom of Information Act after a federal district court judge sided with a libertarian group that requested the documents.

The dispute stems from a 2015 FOIA request from the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm, which requested records from the agency’s Asset Forfeiture Tracking and Retrieval System. The system is used to monitor IRS-seized assets from private citizens.

Read more here (subscription required).

FOIA News: ICYMI, orgs ask House to nix DOD's proposed FOIA exemption

In a letter dated April 14, 2020, twenty-five organizations urged the House Armed Services Committee to reject a proposal in an appropriation bill that would exempt from FOIA “information on military tactics, techniques, and procedures, and of military rules of engagement.” This is the sixth time that the Pentagon has attempted to include similar language in appropriations bills since 2011.

FOIA News: CFO Tech Committee fills vacancies

On April 15, 2020, the Office of Government Information Services announced that government volunteers had filled all open slots on the Technology Committee of the Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council.