Q. How do I find my father's military record, which includes information about him being a POW in Germany during WWII and serving in Korea?
A. You can request your father's military service records from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Just follow these instructions from NARA's website.
Palmieri v. United States (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) the Office of Naval Intelligence failed to conduct an adequate search for records concerning plaintiff, a former contractor for the United States whose security clearance was revoked; (2) the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) did not sufficiently establish that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 3 and the Bank Secrecy Act; (3) the Department of State, Defense Security Service, and OPM conducted adequate searches; (4) the Naval Criminal Investigative Service properly withheld records pursuant to Privacy Act exemption (j)(2) and plaintiff failed to expressly challenge agency's FOIA exemptions.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Q. Is there any information or warrant for [name and date of birth redacted] born in Chicago that pertains to the navy criminal investigation unit?
A. To request records from the Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), follow these instructions from the agency's website. Please keep in mind that if you are not the subject of the request (unclear from submission), the NCIS is likely to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of any responsive records in order to protect the subject's privacy interests. If you are requesting records about yourself and the NCIS is currently investigating you, the agency might withhold certain investigatory records under Exemption 7(A). Alternatively, if the NCIS reasonably believes that (1) you are unaware of its investigation and (2) disclosing the existence of its investigation will cause harm, the agency would be permitted to invoke the (c)(1) exclusion and inform you that no investigatory records exist.
Pebble Ltd. v. U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency (D. Alaska) -- following in camera review of 145 documents, ordering agency to release, in whole or in part, twenty-three documents that had been withheld under the deliberative process privilege.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Q. Can you check whether my ex-husband and I appear on any government watch lists? I ran a background check which showed nothing bad, but they listed my ex-husband as having a possible criminal driving or other criminal activity (which is false). I do not want to pay airline fare to visit my cousin in Massachusetts if I am going to be turned away!
A. I can only suggest that you contact the U.S. Department of Homeland Security "Traveler Redress Inquiry Program"(TRIP), which is designed to assist individuals "who have inquiries or seek resolution regarding difficulties they experienced during their travel screening at transportation hubs." The following guidance from the American Civil Liberties Union might also be of interest.
By Kelly Hinchcliffe, Poynter, June 15, 2016
In the past year, MuckRock has helped reporters and others file more than 10,000 public records requests to government agencies. Now, the site will be posting some of its own public records since it has officially become a nonprofit organization.
MuckRock founder Michael Morisy made the announcement Wednesday and said he hopes the site’s new nonprofit status can lead to more crowdfunded public records projects.
I asked Morisy about why the change was necessary, how MuckRock will handle transparency within its own organization and what’s next for the website that’s dedicated to public records.
For people who don’t know, how did MuckRock get started?
MuckRock started in 2010 as a way to make public records easier for busy reporters: We help anyone file, track, and share their public records requests, and over the years we've added additional tools like crowdfunding for requests and projects. We're now publishing daily original reporting, such as a deep-dive into the private prison system, and working with users around the globe to help newsrooms, activists, and the general public better understand governmental operations.
Read more here.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a proposed rule that seeks to update its Freedom of Information Act regulations for the first time since 1988. According to the notice published in today's Federal Register, the proposed rule incorporates statutory amendments made in 1996 and 2007, reflects changes in the agency's organization, makes the FOIA process easier for the public to navigate, and updates the agency's fee schedule.
HHS's proposed regulations do not incorporate the statutory amendments passed by Congress this week, which President Obama is expected to approve. The deadline to submit comments to the proposed rule is August 15, 2016.
Tracy v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- ruling that it was reasonable for the FBI to search for records concerning plaintiff by using his name as a search term and forgoing his date of birth, social security number, and the names of companies suggested by plaintiff. The court further ruled that the FBI properly withheld the names of third parties under Exemption 6 and 7(C), and that it properly withheld the address of an internal web site under Exemption 7(E).
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
By Josh Gerstein, Politico, June 13, 2016
A bill aimed at improving the federal government's responses to Freedom of Information Act requests passed the House on Monday and will soon be headed for the White House, where the measure is expected to be signed into law by President Barack Obama.
Both houses of Congress have been considering versions of the legislation for several years, with a bill coming very close to passage in 2014 before hitting a last-minute snag.
The House cleared the way for final passage of the FOIA Improvement Act Monday by agreeing to a version of the bill the Senate passed in March and which the White House said President Barack Obama would sign. The bill passed the House on a voice vote during the so-called suspension calendar used for non-controversial legislation.
"I believe that this is the best bill we can send to the president's desk. I have no doubt that the reforms contained in this bill will significantly improve the Americans' public ability to exercise their right to access information. The most important reform is the presumption of openness," Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said.
In addition to adding a presumption in favor of disclosure to the actual text of FOIA, the bill would also create a centralized portal for FOIA requests across the government.
However, the legislation was watered down somewhat from earlier versions before it passed the Senate in March. The changes were made to overcome resistance by some federal agencies and their supporters on Capitol Hill.
Read more here.
Mario Trujillo, The Hill, June 13, 2016
Legislation to expand the public’s access to open records is nearing President Obama’s desk.
The House on Monday evening is slated to take up the Senate’s version of reform to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which the upper chamber passed in March.
The House approved its own version in January, too. But instead of merging the bills in a conference committee, the House has decided to take up the Senate version to send to the White House.
Various agencies, including the Justice Department, have lobbied against the changes in previous years. But the White House said it would sign the bill after the Senate hashed out a deal to bring skeptical senators on board back in March.
"If the president receives this bill, he'll sign it," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), one of the sponsors, said at the time.
Read more here.
A copy of the Senate's FOIA bill is here.