FOIA News: Sixth Circuit agrees to rehear mugshot case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has granted the government's motion for a hearing en banc in Detroit Free Press v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, which concerns the accessibility of mugshots from the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Court opinions issued Nov. 17, 2015

Kohake v. Dep't of the Treasury (6th Cir.) -- affirming lower court's decision that Internal Revenue Service conducted a reasonable search for records concerning the Estate of William Meadors, which allegedly holds vast fortunes to which plaintiff claims she is entitled.  In reaching its decision, the Sixth Circuit held that the IRS was not required to search for certain records maintained by a U.S. Attorney's Office or county courthouse.    

Am. Civil Liberties Union of N. Cal. v. Fed. Bureau of Investigation (N.D. Cal.) -- finding that FBI failed to show that the attorney-client privilege justified the agency's redactions of 'Human Source Advisory Notices" or the complete withholding of "FAQs for Threat Assessments."  The court further found that FBI improperly relied on the deliberative process privilege to withhold a red-lined version of a "training FAQ," stating that FBI had not demonstrated that "advice about whether a comma should be inserted, word choice, or phrasing would discourage members of the Bureau from providing candid advice about the pros and cons of adopting a policy or practice."

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Nov. 16, 2015

Slaughter v. Nat'l Sec. Agency (E.D. Pa) -- dismissing case for lack of standing because plaintiff did not submit the FOIA request at issue; rather, the request was submitted by plaintiff's attorney in his own name and failed to mention plaintiff at all.

Glapion v. Castro (D. Colo.) -- concluding that Department of Housing and Urban Development conducted an adequate search and that it properly withheld: (1) disciplinary information of agency employees under Exemption 6, and (2) communications between agency officials pertaining to plaintiff under Exemption 5 (deliberative process and attorney-client privileges).  The court also dismissed several claims because plaintiff had failed to administratively appeal the agency's responses. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued November 13, 2015

Mobley v. CIA (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court's decision involving requests for records about plaintiff's detention in Yemen.  The D.C Circuit upheld the adequacy of the FBI's search, rejecting plaintiff's argument that the agency was required to search certain records systems merely because plaintiff had asked it to do so.  The Court also rejected plaintiff's contention that the FBI and CIA had waived Exemption 1 by providing certain information to the Yemeni government, which subsequently provided the information to a party that filed it in court.  Further, the Court rejected plaintiff's argument that the FBI had failed to properly classify certain records.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: Customs and Border Protection amends FOIA regs

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a final rule today that amends its FOIA regulations, which had not been updated since it transferred from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.  

Q&A: Syrian refugees

Q.  I want to submit one or more FOIA requests to state (Virginia) and federal agencies to determine how many Syrian refugees have been relocated to my state, where they are located, what security vetting has been done, and how the relocation process works.  What agencies in Virginia and at the federal level should I submit such a request to and would this information be obtainable under FOIA?

A.  The federal agencies that are most involved in the refugee resettlement process are the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Administration for Children and Families.  FOIA contact information for each of these agencies is available here. Before filing requests, you might wish to peruse those agencies' websites (hyperlinked above) to see what information is already publicly available.  For example, HHS publishes the number of refugees resettled annually in each state by country of origin.  Several U.S. intelligence agencies are involved in security vetting, but you are not likely to gain access to security files via FOIA.  Nor in my opinion are you likely to obtain the home addresses of any refugee from any agency (federal or state).  

With respect to Virginia, you might consider directing requests to the Governor's Office and/or to the Secretariat of Public Safety and Homeland Security.    

FOIA News: Supreme Court declines Exemption 4 case; Thomas and Scalia dissent

The Supreme Court decided today not to accept New Hampshire Right to Life v. Department of Health and Human Services, a case in which the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found that Planned Parenthood's "Manual of Medical Standards and Guidelines" was protected from disclosure under Exemption 4.  Justice Thomas issued a dissent joined by Justice Scalia, stating that the First Circuit's decision warranted review because it "perpetuates an unsupported interpretation of an important federal statute and further muddies an already amorphous test."  

FOIA News: Feds want rehearing on mugshots

DOJ Asks 6th Circ. To Decide If FOIA Covers Mugshots

By Jacob Fischler, Law360, Nov. 12, 2015

The U.S. Department of Justice asked the full Sixth Circuit on Thursday to rehear a panel’s decision that the U.S. Marshals Service must provide booking photos under Freedom of Information Act requests, saying a circuit split requires full rehearing.

In a reply brief answering the Detroit Free Press’ opposition to its original petition for en banc rehearing on the case over whether booking photos are exempt from FOIA requests, the DOJ said the newspaper — while acknowledging the differences between precedent in the Sixth Circuit and...

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Court opinions issued Nov. 10, 2015

Allison v. U.S. Marshals Serv. (D. Idaho) -- ruling in government's favor after finding that:  (1) requested police records were not in agency's possession and that a sealed court record was not improperly withheld; and (2) plaintiff failed to administratively appeal agency's search methodology or its exemption claims with respect to remaining requested records.

Pinson v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- granting in part and denying in part summary judgment motion of the Executive Office for the United States Attorneys.  The court found that plaintiff had failed to appeal certain agency responses, but held that plaintiff was not required to appeal responses that the agency had made after plaintiff filed his initial Complaint.  The court further held that EOUSA's declaration failed to demonstrate that the agency's search was adequate, noting the declaration's description of the search was "so general that it could describe virtually any search undertaken in response to a FOIA request."

 Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Nov. 6, 2015

Elec. Frontier Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Commerce (9th Cir.) -- vacating and remanding district court's decision that export licensing records were not protected by the Export Administration Act of 1979, which had expired in 2001, in light of the enactment of a law after the district court's decision that appeared to retroactively revive the Act.  

 Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.