Rodriguez v. DOD (D.D.C) -- concluding that agency unreasonably limited scope of search and failed to demonstrate that search was reasonably calculated to uncover all responsive records.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
HHS Only Department to Meet Obama's FOIA Backlog Reduction Order
Swetha Kareti, National Security Archive, Feb. 9, 2017
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the only cabinet level agency that was able to meet President Obama’s 2009 instruction to reduce FOIA backlogs by 10 percent per year. Out of the 15 federal departments surveyed, HHS reduced its backlog by 12.7 percent* per year. The average for all federal departments was an 8.21 percent increase. The departments of Homeland Security, State, and Housing and Urban Development are some of the worst offenders, with an average increase of nearly 30 percent per year.
Read more here.
Q. I am the former wife of an Air Force serviceman. After we divorced in 1984, I was awarded 40% of his military retirement pension. Where can I find the amount of his monthly pension cheque? I'm concerned because there hasn't be an increase in the money I'm receiving for over five years. I sent my documentation to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service ("DFAS"), but to no avail. Their advice was to contact the FOIA office, which I did about a month ago by email. I still haven't received a response.
A. You may want to consult the DFAS's FOIA website to make sure that you filed your request in accordance with the agency's procedures. You should have at least received an acknowledgment of receipt by now. Consider re-filing your request or contacting the DFAS FOIA staff. Contact information for the FOIA public liaison officer is available here. Be advised that some records pertaining to your ex-husband's pension may be protected by the Privacy Act and, therefore, may not be available for public disclosure. If you still have trouble getting the information you need, you may want to consider seeking the advice of a lawyer who specializes in divorce law.
Nat'l Sec. Counselors v. DOJ (D.C. Cir.) -- finding that (1) FBI's policy of saving a maximum of 500 pages on a CD did not result in a violation of FOIA's mandate that agencies recover only "reasonable standard charges; (2) FBI failed to provide sufficient facts to allow court to determine whether FBI's $15-per-CD fee policy exceeds direct costs; and (3) affirming district court's denial of plaintiffs' request for a public interest fee waiver, because plaintiffs "failed to provide sufficiently specific and non-conclusory statements demonstrating its ability to disseminate the disclosures to a 'reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject.'"
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
By Andrew Restuccia, Politico, Feb. 14, 2017
They also contend that the use of encrypted messaging circumvents federal record-keeping laws — an argument Science Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) echoed in Tuesday's letter.
"[T]he Committee is concerned that these encrypted and off-the-record communication practices, if true, run afoul of federal record-keeping requirements, leaving information that could be responsive to future Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and congressional requests unattainable," wrote Smith, who organized the letter to the IG. The panel has jurisdiction over many cybersecurity issues.
Outside conservative groups have launched similar efforts.
Citing POLITICO's story, the Cause of Action Institute, a right-leaning watchdog group, filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act this month seeking EPA employees' communications using Signal. "The bottom line is: An encrypted app is basically a way to avoid transparency," Institute Assistant Vice President Henry Kerner said in an interview.
…
"The public is entitled to know whether career federal government employees are engaged in partisan politics on the taxpayers’ dime," said Allan Blutstein, vice president of FOIA operations at America Rising.
Read more here.
By Kelly Knaub, Law360, Feb. 14, 2017
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security asked an Arizona federal court Friday to end a suit brought by the ACLU Foundation of Arizona over a freedom of information request related to allegations of abuse of immigrant children in federal custody, saying it has complied with the request.
In a motion for summary judgment, the DHS’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties said it conducted reasonable searches and handed over more than 30,000 pages of documents and 35 audio files, and withheld some information properly under Freedom of Information Act exemptions, in response to the ACLU’s request seeking records related to the alleged abuse of immigrant children in DHS custody since Jan. 1, 2009.
Read more here. (Subscription)
By Sean Moulton, POGO, Feb. 14, 2017
Have you asked for records using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)? Have you worked for an agency fulfilling such requests? Either way, we could use your input. The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) and the National Security Archive are hosting a survey to collect input on how FOIA searches are done. Please take 10 minutes to fill out the survey if you have experience with FOIA, and forward it to anyone else you think could help.
The FOIA process can be complicated and contentious as requestors and agencies wrestle with delays, withholdings, redactions, and more. One of the first and most critical steps in processing every request is the search conducted to identify responsive records. Finding a document on your computer or on the internet might seem remarkably simple and straightforward, but searching for records across a federal agency can quickly become problematic.
Read more here.
By Meredith Wadman, Science, Feb. 13, 2017
Put the records back on the internet. That’s the demand made in a lawsuit filed today against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by an animal law expert at Harvard University, together with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and several other animal welfare groups. The plaintiffs allege that USDA violated the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) earlier this month when it removed thousands of animal welfare inspection reports and other records from a publicly accessible website.
“Our lawsuit seeks to compel the USDA to reinstate the records, which it had no right to remove from its website in the first place,” said Delcianna Winders, currently the Academic Fellow of the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Program, in a statement. “The government should not be in the business of hiding animal abusers and lawbreakers from public scrutiny."
Read more here.
Hundreds of files concerning former U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland are now available to the public on the website of the National Archives and Records Administration. See Files of Associate Deputy Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, 4/1/1994 - 4/30/1997; Enclosure Files of Assistant Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, 1/1/1995 - 12/31/1995; and Subject Files of Assistants to the Attorney General, 1974 - 1994. The published files were first made available to America Rising in response to its FOIA requests following Garland's nomination in March 2016.
In sum, NARA processed and released more than 38,000 pages of records to America Rising in less than eight months -- a laudable effort by NARA personnel. Among the records that might be of particular interest to FOIA practitioners are DOJ memos from 1980 that discuss FOIA litigation involving Henry Kissinger's papers. Records reflecting higher-profile matters in which Merrick Garland took part include the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympics and the Oklahoma City bombing case.
Q. I filed a complaint with the Department of Labor regarding unpaid overtime wages. After an investigation, the agency determined that I was actually due the unpaid overtime but decided not to pursue recovery on my behalf. I asked the DOL for the total amount of wages due, but my contact refused to send me the information and directed me to the FOIA. What does the FOIA have to do with obtaining my own personal records?
A. The FOIA governs access to agency records, including anything created by the DOL during its investigation into your unpaid overtime. While those records are about you, they are not, in fact, your "personal" records, at least not in the sense that you "own" them. Consider visiting the DOL Wage and Hour Division's FOIA website, which has useful information about how to request copies of your investigative file. Pay special attention to Privacy Act requirements, however, as a request for personal information needs a special statement attesting that you are who you claim to be.