Codrea v. ATF (D.D.C.) -- concluding that Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives properly relied upon Exemption 7(E) to withhold certain "instructions, policies or guidance given to agents who serve as hearing officers, or to their superiors, in connection with determining whether an [firearm] license should be revoked or suspended, or issuance of a license be denied, or a civil fine imposed."
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Edelman v. Sec. & Exch. Comm'n (D.D.C) -- determining that the SEC performed a reasonable search for consumer complaints regarding a real estate trust and that it properly withheld certain information pursuant to the deliberative process privilege. Further, the court rejected the agency's categorical withholding of all names of consumer complainants under Exemption 6 and ordering the parties to meet and confer on the issue.
Shapiro v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) FBI properly invoked Exemption 7(E) to withhold search slips generated in response to certain FOIA requests seeking records concerning domestic terrorism investigations; (2) parties must meet and confer concerning FBI's "sensitive case file numbers or sub-files," which court found meets the threshold test of Exemption 7(E); (3) FBI properly withheld certain investigatory records pertaining to murder of Hyram Kitchen pursuant to Exemptions 1 and 5, but that neither party was entitled to summary judgment with respect to Exemption 3; and (4) FBI was required to submit sample, redacted documents to permit court to evaluate issue of segregability.
Johnson v. United States (D.D.C.) -- dismissing action against EEOC because it released all records requested by plaintiff, and dismissing action against Office of Personnel management because plaintiff failed to submit a request before filing lawsuit.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
By Joe Veix, Newsweek, Mar. 10, 2017
An exciting but underappreciated genre of writing is the Great American FBI File. Think of government agents as taxpayer-funded paparazzi, invading the lives of private citizens for the supposed good of the country. There are files on many popular figures, including John Lennon, Lucille Ball and Biggie Smalls. Writer William T. Vollman famously found his own file and dug through it for a great long Harper’s essay. Say what you will about the FBI, but it has decent taste in artists.
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Considering this, artist and activist Parker Higgins figured out a way to automate the process of releasing records. No, not by murdering people; that would be terrible and time-consuming. He created a program that monitors the New York Times obituary section. Anytime a new article appears, it automatically files a FOIA request for that recently deceased person. He calls it FOIA the Dead.
Read more here.
By Michael Linhorst, Lawfare, Mar. 9, 2017
Documents the FBI creates when it processes a FOIA request can be withheld from future FOIA requests in certain sensitive cases, D.C. District Judge Randolph Moss ruled on Monday.
At issue are “search slips” and “processing notes”—internal documents the FBI creates when it responds to FOIA requests. The court determined that those records may be withheld under FOIA’s Exemption 7(E) on a case-by-case basis when their release could allow a savvy FOIA user to create a “mosaic” that reveals information properly protected under the law.
This was the fourth opinion the court has issued in long-running litigation between the FBI and four FOIA requesters: Ryan Shapiro, Newsweek journalist Jeff Stein, the nonprofit National Security Counselors (NSC) and the news organization Truthout. The case, Shapiro v. Department of Justice, involves 58 FOIA requests filed by Ryan Shapiro, an MIT doctoral student, seeking information from FBI investigations into domestic terrorism activities by animal-rights extremists. The FBI gave him 42 “no records” responses, meaning that it told him no records existed that were responsive to his requests. Such responses are allowed in two circumstances: when there really are no records, or when the requested records fall into a narrow exemption in § 552(c) involving documents that could interfere with certain criminal law enforcement proceedings.
Read more here.
By Ian Smith, FedSmith, Mar. 9, 2017
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent letters to 55 different federal agencies this week seeking information on federal employees’ use of unofficial government communication methods.
The Committee has become concerned about recent reports that federal workers are using alternate means of communication such as personal email accounts or encrypted messaging applications. The letter notes that if this is done, such as with using a personal email account, the Federal Records Act requires that the employee copy the message to his or her official account within 20 days to preserve the official government record.
Read more here.
By CJ Ciaramella, Reason, Mar. 9, 2017
BuzzFeed News reporter Jason Leopold is a prodigious Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requester who files hundreds of public records requests and dozens of lawsuits a year against federal agencies. In fact, the only news organization that filed more FOIA lawsuits against the government last year was The New York Times.
Most transparency advocates and journalists would think of this as a feather in Leopold's cap, but according to government lawyers, filing too many lawsuits against agencies for failing to abide by federal records law is a good reason to delay further transparency.
U.S. Justice Department lawyers filed a motion Monday in response to one of Leopold's many FOIA lawsuits, asking a federal court to allow the National Security Agency to delay releasing a large tranche of documents to him, citing in part his extensive litigation to get public records.
Read more here.
House v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- granting government's renewed motion for summary judgment after determining that the Criminal Division performed an adequate search for records concerning plaintiff's criminal prosecution.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Q. If a U.S. citizen was the subject of a FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] warrant and, in the end, it was concluded that he or she was not guilty of anything, can that person request to see the application for the warrant, the material collected, and other related documents? If so, who would he or she contact?
A. Most of the filings and orders of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court are classified. Moreover, as a federal court, it is outside the reach of the Freedom of Information Act. The FOIA does apply to intelligence agencies that interact with the court, e.g., the Department of Justice's National Security Division, FBI, and National Security Agency, but they frequently refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records about named individuals or organizations.
It took FOIA for Park Service to release photos of Obama, Trump inauguration crowd sizes
Deena Zaru, CNN, Mar. 7, 2017
Washington (CNN)The National Park Service has released a series of aerial and ground shots that show the crowd sizes during the last three presidential inaugurations in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from various media outlets.
The images show the crowd sizes of President Barack Obama's 2009 and 2013 inaugurations, as well as President Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. The turnout represented in the photos for Trump's inauguration was smaller than that of his predecessor. The Park Service did not indicate the precise times that the photos were taken.
Read more here.
The Postal Service has again amended its FOIA regulations to update and correct cross references and citations. The final rule was published in today's issue of the Federal Register.