Q. Can a person registered with FINRA (i.e., a registered representative) successfully submit a FOIA request to FINRA to get his former employer's correspondence with FINRA concerning his alleged wrongdoing committed while he was an employer of such employer?
A. FINRA is a non-profit organization, not a government agency, and therefore it is not subject to FOIA. FINRA might have its own disclosure policies/procedures, but I am not aware of them.
Q. I was in anti-Vietnam War marches in 1968 thru 1971 that turned violent. I want to know what information the government has on me concerning political violence. Where should I send a request?
A. You might consider submitting a Privacy Act request to the FBI. Here are the relevant instructions from the FBI's web site:
If you are requesting information about yourself, you must use one of the following options:
Option 1: Use the U.S. Department of Justice Certification of Identity Form DOJ-361. You may submit an attachment listing additional information that may aid in locating responsive records. Please place your name and contact information on the attachment.
Option 2: Following the instructions in U.S. Department of Justice Certification of Identity Form DOJ-361, submit a letter to the FBI, sign your request, and have it notarized or state, “Under penalty of perjury, I hereby declare that I am the person named above and I understand that any falsification of this statement is punishable under the provisions of Title 18, United States Code (U.S.C.), Section 1001 by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment of not more than five years, or both; and that requesting or obtaining any record(s) under false pretenses is punishable under the provisions of Title 5, U. S. C., Section 552a(i)(3) as a misdemeanor and by a fine of not more than $5,000.” If you have any questions about this process before submitting your FOIPA request, please e-mail foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov.
Mail, fax, or e-mail this letter to the following:
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Attn: FOI/PA Request
Record/Information Dissemination Section
170 Marcel Drive
Winchester, VA 22602-4843
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997
E-mail (scanned copy): foiparequest@ic.fbi.gov
Q. How can I obtain records concerning a California Superior Court's internal investigation of its employees?
A. The California Public Records Act does not apply to the judicial branch. As of 2010, however, rule 10.500 of the California Rules of Court established comprehensive public access provisions for judicial administrative records maintained by state trial and appellate courts, and the Judicial Council of California.
Gawker Media, LLC v. FBI (M.D. Fla.) -- granting in part and denying in part the government's motion for summary judgment concerning plaintiff's request for records concerning investigation of extortion involving "Hulk Hogan" sex tape. The court granted government's Exemption 6 claims with respect to Hulk Hogan's family members, but denied those claims for individuals who had voluntarily publicized their involvement, the names of private attorneys, and certain government employees. The court further found that the government had properly invoked Exemptions 3, 5, and 7(E). However, the court reserved ruling on certain exemption claims made by the Executive Office of United States Attorneys pending an in camera review of records.
Gahagan v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs. (E.D. La.) -- denying the parties' motions for summary judgment and ordering the government to submit a revised Vaughn Index that "more clearly identifies each redaction within the documents and clearly explains the relevance of each applied exemption, in particular exemption (k)(2)" of the Privacy Act.
Gahagan v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs. (E.D. La.) -- ruling that plaintiff was ineligible for attorneys' fees and costs because plaintiff presented no evidence to show that the ultimate disclosure of the requested documents -- two months after the FOIA request -- resulted from the filing of his lawsuit, rather than merely administrative problems.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Bothwell v. Brennan (N.D. Cal.) -- concluding that the Central Intelligence Agency conducted an adequate search of its operational files for records generated in 1976 concerning Johnny Roselli. In reaching its decision, the court rejected plaintiff's argument that the CIA should have searched and reviewed the actual, hard-copy paper files after the agency found no responsive records through inquiries of its electronic databases.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
By Josh Gerstein, Politico, Nov. 4, 2015
Repeated crashes of a version of the Microsoft Outlook program in recent months stymied the State Department's ability to respond to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demanding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's schedules, according to a new court filing.
A written declaration a senior State official submitted Wednesday in connection with a FOIA suit filed by the Associated Press said the agency is unable to meet a deadline Thursday to produce all records of Clinton's schedules during her four years as secretary of state.
State Deputy Executive Secretary Kelly Degnan said the Outlook crashes hampered State's ability to search email accounts and delayed the agency from searching archived versions of official emails accounts maintained by several Clinton aides involved with setting her schedule.
Read more here.
Dean v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- determining that Drug Enforcement Administration performed an adequate search for a "cooperating individual agreement" that was used to prosecute plaintiff in 1991; noting that DEA was not required to "undertake 'fruitless' inquiries" to former employees of Department of Justice or Department of Homeland Security.
Springer v. U.S. Attorney for the N. Dist. of Okla. (N.D. Okla.) -- granting government's summary judgment after finding that Executive Office for United States Attorneys had provided plaintiff with all non-exempt records and performed a reasonable search.
Electric Frontier Found. v. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C., 2015) -- ruling that an opinion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was exempt from disclosure under Exemptions 1 and 3 because the opinion was properly classified and because its disclosure was prohibited by 50 U.S.C. §§ 3605, 3024(i)(1). The court rejected the government's argument that plaintiff's action was barred by collateral estoppel; it further rejected plaintiff's argument that the government had waived its right to withhold the requested record.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Citizens for Ethics & Responsibility in Wash. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- awarding plaintiff $32,865.19 for attorneys' fee and costs in connection with its request concerning John Ensign, former Senator from Nevada. The court reduced plaintiff's request for $64,327.40 after determining that plaintiff relied upon an inappropriate matrix to calculate hourly attorney rates, that a portion of plaintiff's fee motion was unsuccessful, and that plaintiff failed to adhere to standards for contemporaneous timekeeping.
Piccone v. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (E.D. Va.) -- determining that USPTO performed a reasonable search for records concerning its investigation of plaintiff, an attorney who the prosecuted cases before the agency even though his law license had been suspended.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Watchdog Gets Attorney Fees From Justice
By Mike Heuer, Courthouse News Service, Oct. 30, 2015
The Department of Justice must pay $32,865 in attorney's fees for its delayed response to a FOIA request for documents on a closed criminal investigation of former Nevada Senator Jim Ensign's affair with a staffer, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge John Bates granted Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's request for attorney's fees incurred during its lengthy but successful court fight for records of a closed investigation into Ensign and money he paid to his former chief of staff and wife, with whom Ensign had an affair.
CREW filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in September 2012, claiming the DOJ's Criminal Division, the FBI and the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys improperly withheld records of to the Ensign investigation that had concluded with no charges filed .
Read more here.
This week, the United States released its third National Action Plan, which includes 45 commitments to advance transparency, accountability, participation and/or technological innovations. Among these commitments are a number of FOIA initiatives, which are summarized below.
● Expand the Services Offered on FOIA.gov. Additional new features will also be explored, including a guided request tool, online tracking of request status, simplified reporting methods for agencies, improved FOIA contact information, and tools that will enhance the public’s ability to locate already posted information.
● Improve Agency Proactive Disclosures by Posting FOIA-Released Records Online. The Department of Justice will lead a pilot program with seven agencies to test the feasibility of posting FOIA-released records online so that they are available to the public.
● Improve Agency FOIA Websites. The Administration will issue guidance and create best practices for agency FOIA web pages, including developing a template for key elements to encourage all agencies to update their FOIA websites to be consistent, informative, and user-friendly.
● Increase Understanding of FOIA. The National Archives will develop tools to teach students about FOIA.
● Proactively Release Nonprofit Tax Filings. The Internal Revenue Service will launch a new process that will remove personally identifiable information before releasing the public information within electronically filed nonprofit tax filings.