FOIA News: Thank a FOIA Officer

Take a minute to thank a FOIA officer who helped open up government

Transparency laws wouldn’t work without helpful public servants. Give them some well-deserved recognition.

By Michael Morisy, MuckRock, Nov. 24. 2016

As challenging as public records can be, it’s an incredibly important part of the democratic process that often provides a unique opportunity for oversight and engagement. That opportunity wouldn’t be possible without government officials doing their job, and often going above and beyond in the name of transparency.

This holiday, we once again want to ask you to take a moment and say thanks to a public records officer who has gone above and beyond in helping process a request. Maybe it was for waiving a fee, or helping you better phrase your request to get what you wanted.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Nov. 21, 2016

Torres Consulting & Law Grp., LLC v. NASA (9th Cir.) (unpublished opinion) -- reversing and remanding district court's decision that certain payroll information was protected by Exemptions 4 and 6.  

Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. DHS (D.D.C.) --  concluding for fee purposes that that plaintiff substantially prevailed because court issued scheduling order and because FOIA litigation substantially caused DHS to produce documents; further finding that plaintiff was entitled to fees because all factors weighed in plaintiff's favor.

Vakili v. DHS (N.D. Cal.) -- dismissing plaintiff's possible FOIA claims for failing to prosecute and for failing to exhaust his administrative remedies.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: Amtrak proposes revisions to FOIA regs

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) has proposed revisions to its FOIA regulations as set forth in a notice published today in the Federal Register.  The regulations incorporate statutory amendments made by the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016,  and "update, clarify, and streamline the language of its regulations in order to make the FOIA process easier for the public to navigate."

The deadline to submit comments is December 23, 2016.

FOIA News: State Dep't search for Clinton records inadequate, judge rules

Judge faults State over Clinton visitor records

By Josh Gerstein Politico, Nov. 22, 2016

A federal judge has rejected the State Department's handling of a request for records of visitors to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's office, ruling that officials there did not do an adequate search before they told the Republican National Committee that no such records were found.

"The narrow interpretation given by the agency to the Visitor Records Request improperly limited the scope of the search, rendering the search conducted in this case inadequate," Judge Beryl Howell wrote in an opinion issued Tuesday evening.

Read more here.  

FOIA News: FOIA regulations issued by DHS and FDIC

Today,  two agencies, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, issued regulations implementing various amendments to the FOIA and developments in case law. 

The FDIC's interim regulations incorporate amendments to the FOIA from 2016.  Public comments are due January 23, 2017.  

DHS's final regulations, which encompass the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, incorporate developments in case law and statutory amendments from 2007 and 2016.  DHS published a proposed rule in July 2015 that reflected the 2007 amendments, but it did not seek public comments with respect to regulatory changes implementing the 2016 amendments.  DHS's final regulations are effective December 22, 2016.  

FOIA News: Clinton fights demand for more information on emails

Clinton fights demand for more information on emails

By Josh Gerstein, Politico, Nov. 21, 2016

Lawyers for Hillary Clinton are opposing a conservative group's demand that she provide more details about the creation of the private server that hosted her email account while she was secretary of state.

Last month, Clinton answered written questions that a federal judge authorized Judicial Watch to ask in connection with a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit related to her email set-up. She said she had no recollection that anyone ever suggested to her that the arrangement be at odds with FOIA or federal recordkeeping laws.

On Nov. 3, five days before the presidential election, Judicial Watch complained to U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan that Clinton did not provide full answers to all the questions the group asked.

Clinton's attorneys responded in a court filing Monday that two of the three questions went beyond the scope of what Sullivan authorized Judicial Watch to inquire about.

Read more here.

Q&A: All the live-long day?

Q.  How can I find out how much money Amtrak spends on brush cutting on their railroad tracks every year? And how can I find out how to bid on their brush cutting work?

A.  For information about doing business with Amtrak, see the agency's procurement portal.  The information you seek might be available on Amtrak's website.  If not, you can submit a FOIA request to Amtrak  by following these instructions.

Q&A: Please don't take my sunshine away

Q.  Are the cell phones of government employees [in Illinois] subject to FOIA requests and can they be confiscated by agency attorneys if they suspect you are taking pictures or sending a text about work-related matters?

A.  On August 9, 2016, the Illinois Attorney General issued a legal opinion indicating that all emails sent or received by agency employees that relate to government business are subject to FOIA, regardless of whether sent through a government or personal account. This would appear to be equally applicable to text messages and other work-related records maintained on personal accounts or devices.  

For further information about the AG's opinion, see this article written by the law firm Holland & Knight.  If you are an agency employee, you should confer with your agency about the how it intends to implement the AG's opinion.  

FOIA News: Rallying cry for media under Trump: Make FOIA Great Again

Rallying cry for media under Trump: Make FOIA Great Again

By Philip Eli, Columbia Journalism Review, Nov. 18, 2016

DONALD TRUMP HAS NEVER held elected office. So it’s possible he thinks he can run the the Executive Branch like one of his private companies. But the president-elect does not own the Department of Transportation, the US Navy, or any of the other agencies under his command. We do. And we, the people, under the Freedom of Information Act, have a right to access the material they produce, unless it falls under one of nine exemptions.

The FOIA, notably, places no limit on the number of requests an agency can receive or a person can submit. And it is with this fact in mind—and Trump’s well-document fondness for superlatives—that I suggest we make Donald Trump the most FOIA-requested president in US history. This wouldn’t just give him another sentence for his astonishingly long-winded online biography, it just may offer a path to redemption for our beleaguered news industry.

Read more here.

FOIA News: How Will Trump Deal with FOIA?

How Will Trump Deal with FOIA?

By Jason Koebler, Motherboard, Nov. 17, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on the idea that the media is incompetent, biased, and vindictive. He was also the first candidate in modern US history to refuse to release his tax returns.

Taken together, the inbound Trump administration doesn’t look like it’s going to be particularly forthcoming or transparent with reporters. But how will his administration deal with the Freedom of Information Act, one of the most powerful tools reporters, activists, and researchers have to gain insight into the inner workings of government?

Read more here.