FOIA News: U.S. Copyright Office to amend FOIA regulations

The U.S. Copyright Office has issued an interim rule amending its FOIA regulations that is scheduled to be published in tomorrow's edition of the Federal Register.  The amendments are intended to implement the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.  The interim rule will be effective on March 9, 2017.  Written comments are due on April 24, 2017. 

Q&A: Over the river and through the woods

Q.  My grandmother died 8 months ago and I want to know if I can find her record.

A.  The federal government does not maintain a single repository of records from which it can search for documents on any individual.  Rather, federal agencies maintain separate systems of records.  Therefore, if you wish to locate records about your grandmother from the federal government, you first must figure out which agency might maintain records about her -- for example, U.S. Customs and Immigrations Services, Social Security Administration, etc.  See the website FOIA.gov for guidance on how to submit a FOIA request.  For maximum access, you will need to include evidence of your grandmother's death with your request.  

Court opinion issued Feb. 2, 2017

Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) agency's search for records concerning former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Clinton Foundation was reasonable "in most respects," but unreasonably omitted emails of Huma Abedin; (2) agency failed to adequately address whether documents concerning then-Senator Clinton's Senate confirmation were protected under deliberative process privilege; (3) agency improperly withheld certain factual material concerning potential sources of conflict being deliberated upon by agency; (4) Exemption 6 protected private email addresses of individuals who were not yet affiliated with State Department, but not domain extensions of email addresses when release would not reveal the owner's full email address.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Feb. 1, 2017

Bettwieser v. Gans (D. Idaho) -- declining to dismiss plaintiff's suit against United States Postal Service even though agency averred that it never received request.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: Union chief raises fists as GOP firm requests emails

Union chief raises fists as GOP firm requests emails

By Kevin Bogardus, Greenwire, Feb. 3, 2017

A top U.S. EPA union official has come under scrutiny from a Republican political opposition research firm.

America Rising LLC filed a Freedom of Information Act request this week for emails sent to or from John O'Grady, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, that mention President Trump. O'Grady's council is made up of all of AFGE's local EPA unions, representing about 9,000 agency employees overall.

...

In an interview with E&E News, officials with America Rising emphasized that filing FOIAs is standard operating procedure for the firm and that this request was not meant to suppress dissent among EPA career employees. Instead, they said, the group wants to shed more light on internal government operations.

Read more here (paywall).

FOIA News: USADF revising FOIA regulations

The U.S. African Development Foundation published a final rule implementing new FOIA regulations in today's issue of the Federal Register.  The changes are meant to bring the agency's regulations into accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.  USADF did not solicit public comment.  The final rule is effective April 4, 2017.

FOIA News: EPA Employees Are Using Encryption Technology To Hide Resistance To Trump — But Is It Legal?

EPA Employees Are Using Encryption Technology To Hide Resistance To Trump — But Is It Legal?

By Mike Bastasch, Daily Caller, Feb. 2, 2017

Federal employees are turning to encryption technologies to coordinate their resistance to the Trump administration, looking for ways to protect their conversations from hackers or agency overlords.

A small group of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees are already “communicating incognito using the app Signal shortly after Trump’s inauguration,” Politico reports. Such apps encrypt communications and make them difficult to monitor or hack.
…
Federal law requires agency employees to preserve work-related records on government servers, even if such communications occur over non-government emails, phones or text messages.

Encrypting messages allow employees to create potentially work-related messages as ones they can control. That creates the possibility employees could use encryption to circumvent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Jan. 31, 2017

Rad v. U.S. Attorney's Office (D.N.J.) -- denying requester's motion for in camera review and granting agency's motion for summary judgment because agency had properly applied Exemption 3, in conjunction with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e); Exemption 6; and Exemptions 7(C), (D), and (E).

Bothwell v. Brennan (9th Cir.) -- affirming district court decision denying requester's motion for summary judgment on the grounds that he had failed to establish a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the CIA had waived its application of Exemption 3 or failed to conduct an adequate search for responsive records.

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. DOJ (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court decision dismissing plaintiff's suit under the APA to compel DOJ Office of Legal Counsel to meet its disclosure obligations under the "reading room" provision of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. sec. 552(a)(2). 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: NARA publishes direct final rule for new FOIA regulations

The National Archives and Records Administration published a direct final rule implementing revised FOIA regulations in today's issue of the Federal Register.  These amendments are needed to make NARA's regulations consistent with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 and to make "a few small administrative changes."  The rule is effective March 3, 2017, but the agency is soliciting public comment until February 21, 2017.  If it receives any adverse comment, the agency intends to withdraw the rule.

FOIA News: National Mediation Board issues new FOIA regulations

The National Mediation Board published a final rule implementing new FOIA regulations in today's issue of the Federal Register.  The revisions are primarily intended to comply with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. The Board received one comment in response to its November 14, 2016 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which has not resulted in any changes. The new regulations are effective immediately.