FOIA News: Dep't of State's political leadership "neither reviews nor approves" releases of FOIA records, IG told Congress in 2010

Following up on the Wall Street Journal's recent article (Hillary Clinton’s State Department Staff Kept Tight Rein on Records, May 19, 2015), which we posted on this site, it behooves us to at least point out that the Department of State's Inspector General reported the following "key judgments" in response to an August 2010 congressional inquiry into the role of political appointees in the FOIA process:    

 • OIG found no indication that Department of State (Department) political leadership approves, obstructs, or otherwise unduly influences the Department’s processing of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

• The Office of Information Programs and Services (A/GIS/IPS) carries out its FOIA mandate with great independence.

• A/GIS/IPS releases FOIA responses after clearance and approval at the office director level.

• A/GIS/IPS follows sound management practices, providing a weekly standard information memorandum through its chain of command to inform senior Department leadership about its wide range of information-related responsibilities, including FOIA activities.

The Inspector General further stated that "Department political leadership neither reviews nor approves, and does not direct the review or approval of, the release of information requested under FOIA."

Have a nice holiday weekend.

Court opinions issued May 20, 2015

 Am. Civil Liberties Union v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- ruling that a report drafted by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concerning CIA's former detention and interrogation program is a congressional record not subject to FOIA; further ruling that documents pertaining to an internal CIA review were properly withheld pursuant to Exemptions 1, 3, and 5, as discussed in Leopold v. CIA (D.D.C. Mar. 31, 2015), which concerned same material.  

Related article from Courthouse News Service here.

List of all cases since April 2015 here.

Q&A: disappearance of NYC communist in 1937

Q.   Is the New York Police Department required to follow FOIA rules? I have been trying to read the files on Juliet Stuart Poyntz, but the NYPD says there are none and that I'll need a lawyer to pursue the matter.  I was under the impression that the federal government along with state and local agencies are required to respond to FOIA requests? Is that correct or not?

A.  Yes, the NYPD is subject to the State of New York's Freedom of Information Law.  Given the age of any relevant records, however, I would not expect the NYPD to maintain them in their current files.  You might wish to contact the Municipal Archives, which preserves historical records.  Additionally, the FBI might have maintained records pertaining to Ms. Poyntz.  Although such records would likely be located at the National Archives and Records Administration, you must first submit a request to the FBI.   If you are dissatisfied with the NYPD's decision, you may file an administrative appeal -- no lawyer required --  within 30 days of the decision.   If your appeal is denied, you then may file a lawsuit  with or without a lawyer.    

Court opinions issued May 19, 2015

Neary v. FDIC (D.D.C.) -- dismissing plaintiff's case seeking the names, addresses  and interview dates of certain rejected job applicants.  The court found that the FDIC properly withheld responsive records pursuant to Exemption 6, because plaintiff's unsubstantiated allegations of age discrimination did not outweigh the privacy interests of the rejected applicants.  Although certain requested information was publicly accessible for a brief time period, the court held that the information remained practically obscure and the FDIC had not waived its right to protect it.

List of all cases since April 2015 here.

Q&A: New Jersey criminal record from 1974

Q.  How do I get a copy of a misdemeanor conviction that happened in New Jersey in 1974?

A.  If you want to obtain records about yourself, you may submit a request to the New Jersey State Police or to the FBI.  You might also be able to obtain a "court disposition" from the court that presided over the case.  A list of New Jersey trial courts are available here.  Certain criminal information is accessible to the public via a New Jersey Judiciary database, but it does not include information before 1994.      

FOIA News: Hillary Clinton aide interfered with Dep't of State FOIA process, sources tell Wall St. J.

Hillary Clinton’s State Department Staff Kept Tight Rein on Records

 By Laura Meckler, Wall St. J., May 19, 2015

When Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, her staff scrutinized politically sensitive documents requested under public-records law and sometimes blocked their release, according to people with direct knowledge of the activities.

In one instance, her chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, told State Department records specialists she wanted to see all documents requested on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and later demanded that some be held back.

In another case, Ms. Mills’s staff negotiated with the records specialists over the release of documents about former President Bill Clinton’s speaking engagements—also holding some back.

The records requests came under the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, the public’s main tool to get information from the government. Decisions on what to release belong with each agency’s FOIA staff, say experts on the law, to guard against the withholding of documents for political or other inappropriate reasons.

Read more here. 

FOIA News: State Dep't proposes releasing Clinton emails next year

State Department won't release Hillary Clinton's emails until January 2016

 By Josh Gerstein, POLITICO, May 18, 2015

The State Department is proposing a deadline of January 2016 to complete its review and public release of 55,000 pages of emails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanged on a private server and turned over to her former agency last December.

The proposal came Monday night in a document related to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit Vice News filed in January seeking all of Clinton’s emails.

“The Department’s plan … would result in its review being completed by the end of the year. To factor in the holidays, however, the Department would ask the Court to adopt a proposed completion date of January 15, 2016,” State’s acting director of Information Programs and Services John Hackett said in a declaration filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.

Read more here. 

FOIA News: Transcript & video of FOIA Advisory Committee's recent meeting

The National Archives and Records Administration has released the transcript and video of the FOIA Advisory Committee's meeting on April 21, 2015.  The video is available on YouTube in two parts.  The first part is one hour and 21 minutes; the second installment is 17 minutes.  

Court opinions issued May 15, 2015

Pinson v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- (1) dismissing case against the DEA as moot because plaintiff abandoned his claim; (2) dismissing case against the Criminal Division as moot because the agency released in full the document at issue; and (3) with respect to Bureau of Prisons and DOJ, denying plaintiff's motions for sanctions, a protective order, an order to show cause, and a preliminary injunction; granting plaintiff's unopposed motion for appointment of counsel because plaintiff, an inmate at maximum-security prison, was prohibited from receiving certain FOIA-released documents in mail due to BOP security policies. 

List of all cases since April 2015 here.

Q&A: oil spill claims paid by BP

Q.  How can I secure a list of all BP payees in Mississippi?  I need names and dates and amounts of payments made by BP to claimants.

A.  As you probably know, Deepwater Horizon claimants were initially paid by BP via the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which then transitioned to the Deepwater Horizon Claims Center.  These entities do not, however, appear to qualify as agencies for FOIA purposes.  The Deepwater Horizon Claims Center has published certain statistical information that might be of interest to you, but it has not disclosed the specific information you seek.  Several federal agencies, notably DOJ and FEMA, have participated in monitoring and overseeing the Deepwater Horizon claims and cost reimbursement process.  If you wish to submit FOIA requests to those agencies, their FOIA websites can be found here:  DOJ and FEMA.