FOIA News: Volunteers needed to transcribe declassified records

Celebrate Sunshine Week By Transcribing Once Top-Secret Documents

The National Archives wants you…to make documents more accessible to future generations

By Erin Blakemore, Smithsonian.com, Mar. 13, 2017

Since 2005, news organizations, freedom of speech advocates and government institutions have spent a week each year mid-March celebrating access to public information. It’s called Sunshine Week, and it’s a chance to draw attention to the types of information funded—and owned—by all. Now, reports Shaunacy Ferro of mental_floss, you can get in on the act by helping transcribe hundreds of recently declassified documents for the National Archives.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Mar. 9, 2017

De Sousa v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) CIA properly refused to confirm or deny existence of various records concerning kidnapping of Abu Omar pursuant to Exemption 1; (2) State Department properly issued a partial Glomar response in order to protect classified information; (3)  Department of Defense needed to supplement record as to whether it expressly adopted a draft letter as final agency policy.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: SEC receives FOIA award

SEC FOIA Office Receives Award for Exceptional Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2017-65
Washington D.C., March 13, 2017—The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that its Office of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Services was recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice for “exceptional service” by FOIA professionals. 

The award to a team of 28 professionals recognized their work in handling a growing volume of FOIA requests while reducing the office’s backlog. Between fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2016, FOIA requests to the SEC rose by 38 percent while the number of completed requests in that period increased by 40 percent. 

Read SEC's full press release here.

FOIA News: POGO Powers Up for Sunshine Week

POGO Powers Up for Sunshine Week

By Ari Goldberg, Project on Government Oversight, Mar. 10, 2017

It may still be cold in much of the US, but next week the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) will be marking Sunshine Week with a series of hot events aiming a spotlight on open government. For the 12th year in a row, journalists, advocates, and citizens will hold workshops, discussions, and nationwide events celebrating access to public information.

POGO is taking part in no fewer than four events next week, along with a 7-day social media surge promoting open government under the hashtag #SunshineWeek. If you’re not in the nation’s capital, you can participate in some of these discussions online. You can also check this calendar to find an event in your area.

• Wednesday, March 15: POGO Policy Counsel Elizabeth Hempowicz hosts and moderates a discussion at The Newseum in Washington, DC, titled “Accessing Information in the Age of Trump” with Lucy Dalglish, the Dean of the University of Maryland School of Journalism, Michael Macleod-Ball from the American Civil Liberties Union,  John Donnelly from CQ Roll Call, Nancy Youssef from BuzzFeed News, Mark Tapscott from Daily Caller. Full details here including a link to the livestream.

Read more here.

FOIA News: House Oversight to hold transparency hearing on Wed.

On March 15, 2017, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing entitled "Legislative Proposals for Fostering Transparency."  Witnesses to be announced.  

Note:  As of 8pm, the hearing no longer appears on the Committee's calendar.

FOIA News: CIA withheld information from Senate hearing on FOIA

To avoid "confusion" the CIA withheld info from Senate hearing on limiting FOIA

JPat Brown, MuckRock, Mar. 13, 2017

In early December 1981, the CIA was preparing to go before a Senate Judiciary Committee with the goal of adding additional restrictions to FOIA, which the agency felt had already had a negative impact on its work.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Mar. 8, 2017

Gahagan v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs. (E.D. La.) -- stating that "[t]he Court will not reconsider its prior ruling based on any clarity finally achieved [by USCIS] only after a Court-ordered search and submission that was prompted by the agency's own inadequate presentation. USCIS cannot retroactively satisfy its burden to show an adequate search had been conducted after haphazardly filing incomplete or inaccurate affidavits, confusing the bar, the Court, and the public it is intended to serve."

Wu v. Nat'l Geospatial Intelligence Agency (D. Conn.) -- holding that agency performed a reasonable search for satellite images at or near plaintiff's residence.

Ahuruonye v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior (D.D.C.) -- finding that U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service conducted an adequate search for personnel records concerning plaintiff.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Mar. 7, 2017

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.

Court opinions issued Mar. 6, 2017

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.

FOIA News: FOIA the Dead

THIS BOT FILES FOIA REQUESTS TO THE FBI WHENEVER THE NEW YORK TIMES POSTS AN OBITUARY

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.

* * *

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.