FOIA News: DOJ sued for access to Gorsuch records

Fix the Court sues DOJ for access to Neil Gorsuch's records

By Ryan Lovelace, Wash. Examiner, Feb. 24, 2017

Fix the Court is suing the Justice Department for access to records from Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch's tenure as a deputy assistant attorney general.

Fix the Court is an organization that advocates for greater transparency at the Supreme Court, and has called for term limits for the justices. On Friday, the organization filed a lawsuit in federal court after the Justice Department decided to delay its response to the group's Freedom of Information Act request for details of Gorsuch's work in 2005-2006.

[Note:  As FOIA Advisor reported less than two weeks ago, Merrick Garland's DOJ records are maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration and are now available online as a result of FOIA requests submitted by America Rising.]  

Court opinions issued Feb. 22, 2017

Gilliam v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- concluding that Drug Enforcement Administration performed a reasonable search for records concerning investigation that led to plaintiff's drug trafficking conviction and that DEA properly withheld certain records pursuant to Exemptions 7(C), 7(D), and 7(E).  

Reporters Comm. for Freedom Press v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- ruling that FBI performed a reasonable search for records concerning the agency's alleged practice of impersonating the news media and that it properly withheld certain records pursuant to Exemptions 1, 3 (Nat'l Sec. Act of 1947), 5 (attorney work-product), 6, 7(C), and 7(E).

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: Thoughts on Trump and FOIA

Transparency And FOIA In The Age Of Trump

Here's to hoping it won't be a total eclipse from the start

By Scott A, Leadingham, Quill, Feb. 23, 2017

What does the Trump administration mean for freedom of information, public records, and general government accountability and transparency? Maybe the news media should shy away from the prediction business based on the not-too-stellar record of poll watching in 2016. No matter who is president, there’s an ever-increasing need for vigilance from journalists to safeguard the values of government transparency and openness underscored by the Freedom of Information Act and all public records laws.

Read more here. 

FOIA News: OGIS seeking feedback on CFPB's FOIA program

Checking in on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau FOIA Process

OGIS Blog,  Feb. 22, 2017

OGIS is waiting by the phone to hear about your experience with the CFBP FOIA Program.  Have you made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)?  Our Compliance Team wants to hear about your experience.

Read more here.  

Court opinions issued Feb. 21, 2017

Calderon v. U.S. Dep't of Agric. (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) Exemption 4 applies to some but not all requested information concerning Export Credit Guarantee Program overseen by Foreign Agricultural Service; (2) Exemption 6 protected email addresses and telephone numbers of company employees, but not their names or business addresses.

N.Y. Times v. DOJ (S.D.N.Y.) -- granting in part and denying in part the parties' summary judgment motion in case involving the applicability of Exemption 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7(C) to five memoranda relating to agency's investigation into legality of certain CIA overseas interrogations. 

Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- ruling that the FBI failed to conduct an adequate search or to properly justify its use of Exemption 7(E), and granting the agency an opportunity to supplement the record to demonstrate that the requested unpublished privacy assessments meet Exemption 7(E)'s threshold "compiled for law enforcement purposes" requirement.

Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- granting agency's motion for summary judgment in case concerning thirty documents about former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's non-"state.gov" e-mail communications, which had been withheld in full under Exemption 5, in conjunction with the deliberative process privilege, and rejecting requester's invocation of the government-misconduct exception.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: Privacy group notches win over FBI in FOIA fight

Privacy group notches win over FBI in FOIA fight

Josh Gerstein, Politico, Feb. 21, 2017

A privacy protection group scored a pair of legal wins Tuesday in a court battle with the FBI over access to studies the law enforcement agency has done of how its own record-keeping systems could impact personal privacy.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Feb. 16 & 17, 2017

Feb. 17, 2017

Pinson v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that DOJ: (1) performed adequate searches in response to seven of eleven FOIA requests; (2) failed to prove the applicability of deliberative process privilege to After-Action Reports; (3) failed to prove that Exemption 6 categorically applied to all names, addresses, and case numbers concerning Federal Bureau of Prison litigation settlements; and (4) properly withheld only certain information for which it invoked Exemptions 7(C) and/or 7(F).   

Feb. 16, 2017

Pulliam v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) EPA, DOJ, and DOD failed to perform adequate searches for records related to an investigation into toxic contamination occurring at former Army base; (2) DOD properly invoked Exemption 6 to redact names, email addresses, and phone numbers of junior personnel.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: Interview with drafter of original FOIA

Mark Schlefer and the Federal Freedom of Information Act

By Nancy A. Olson, Bennington Banner, Feb. 17, 2017

Mark Schlefer helped to make history.

Schlefer was one of the three lawyers who drafted the legislation that became the federal Freedom of Information Act, and he helped to guide it through Congress to President Lyndon B. Johnson's desk. Johnson signed the bill into law on July 4, 1966, to take effect one year later.

"In the drafting, we were adamant that you didn't have to have an interest to have access," Schlefer said in an interview. "You could just be a citizen. This was critical."

Read more here.
 

FOIA News: USDA reposts certain animal welfare records

USDA reposts some animal welfare records after outcry

BY Lydia Wheeler, The Hill, Feb. 17, 2017

The Department of Agriculture on Friday reposted some of the animal welfare records it had removed from its website, after outcry from animal rights groups when the material was taken down.

The documents that were removed earlier this month included records of animal welfare violations at zoos, commercial breeders and research labs.

USDA claimed it removed the records as part of a comprehensive review to balance the need for transparency with rules that protect individual privacy.

In a statement Friday, the agency said it reposted the first batch of annual reports of research institutions and inspection reports for certain federal research facilities.

Read more here.

FOIA News: As FBI, others move to FOIA portals, email options disappear

As FBI, others move to FOIA portals, email options disappear

Emma Lux, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Feb. 17, 2017

The Federal Bureau of Investigation no longer will allow individuals seeking public records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to file requests via email, according to several reports, and several other agencies are following suit.

Read more here.