Am. Ctr. for Law & Justice v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- dismissing requester's "policy or practice" claim that alleged agency had an "impermissible practice, policy, and pattern of [intentionally issuing] untimely and noncompliant FOIA responses," but otherwise allowing "basic FOIA challenge related to one particular request" to proceed.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Tim Ryan, Courthouse News Service, April 18, 2017
WASHINGTON (CN) – The conservative-driven Cause of Action Institute has brought a federal complaint to access FBI records on the former British spy who prepared a salacious dossier on President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
Specifically, the institute seeks records under the Freedom of Information Act “evidencing … whether the FBI paid, or caused to be paid, money to Christopher Steele for any purpose.”
Read more here.
By Britain Eakin, Courthouse News Service, April 14, 2017
A conservative legal advocacy group on Wednesday sued the National Security Agency and the office of the Director of National Intelligence in federal court for information about agency procedures guiding the handling of raw signals intelligence.
The American Center for Law and Justice, which describes itself in the April 12 complaint as an organization dedicated to the defense of constitutional liberties, had asked the intelligence agencies for the information to shed more light on what it claims was improper unmasking of Trump campaign associates by the Obama administration.
The group alleges that both agencies, which are named as defendants in the lawsuit, have failed to adequately respond to its Feb. 24 FOIA requests.
Read more here.
By Rebecca Morin, Politico, April 15, 2017
The Electronic Privacy Information Center on Saturday sued the IRS for failing to release President Donald Trump's tax returns.
In a FOIA request to the IRS dated March 29, the advocacy group explained that releasing Trump's tax returns may "correct misstatements of fact" and ensure the “integrity and fairness" of the tax system.
Read more here.
Q. Recently I filed a FOIA request/complaint to the Salisbury, NC police department, which arrested me for DWI. At trial, two police officers testified that they dialed a telephone number for me and overheard me tell my girlfriend that I was sorry for wrecking her vehicle. But I did not ask the police to dial any number for me. And I did not speak with my alleged girlfriend. In fact, I spoke with a lawyer. I first spoke to the lawyer's wife and she let me talk to her husband, the lawyer. I was convicted and sentenced to 1 year in prison. When I got out, I tried my best to obtain records about the telephone number and was denied at every level. So, I filed a FOIA request to the police department and the sheriff's office to obtain records concerning the telephone number. I have been given the run around.
A. Because your criminal case has been settled for more than a decade (see court opinion), the main issues here are whether the information you seek was reduced to writing and whether such documentation still exists. If so, I am not aware of any statutory exemptions that would prevent the local law enforcement authorities from releasing the requested information to you.
By Merritt Kennedy, NPR, Apr. 14, 2017
The Trump administration says it will not make public the names of those visiting the White House, reversing the Obama administration's policy.
White House communications director Michael Dubke said in a statement that the decision was due to the "the grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually," NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
Dubke added that the logs would be disclosed "as outlined under the Freedom of Information Act." FOIA does not apply to the president or his immediate staff.
Read more here.
Offor v. EEOC (2nd Cir.) (summary order) -- affirming district court's denial of plaintiff's requests for attorney's fees and costs, Special Counsel to investigate agency, and injunction regarding plaintiff's future FOIA requests.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
By Andy Greenberg, Wired, Apr. 12, 2017
The recent rise of end-to-end encrypted messaging apps has given billions of people access to strong surveillance protections. But as one federal watchdog group may soon discover, it also creates a transparency conundrum: Delete the conversation from those two ends, and there may be no record left.
The conservative group Judicial Watch is suing the Environmental Protection Agency under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking to compel the EPA to hand over any employee communications sent via Signal, the encrypted messaging and calling app. In its public statement about the lawsuit, Judicial Watch points to reports that EPA staffers have used Signal to communicate secretly, in the face of an adversarial Trump administration.
Read more here.
New OGIS Handout Available
Nat'l Archives & Records Admin., The FOIA Ombudsman, Apr. 12, 2017
It will come as no surprise to our regular readers when we say that the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 has resulted in substantial changes to OGIS’s operations. As we have talked about in a few blog posts, OGIS now has an expanded role in providing dispute resolution throughout the FOIA process. The amendments have also strengthened our mandate to review agency FOIA compliance and to identify strategies to improve compliance.
[. . .]
To better explain OGIS’s role in the process, and the types of assistance that we can offer requesters, we have published a new handout. The handout, which is available on the OGIS Toolbox in the Resources section of our website, clearly describes Who We Are, What We Do, and how to get in contact with us.
Read more here.
MuckRock wraps up its 2nd Annual FOIA fight to the finish
By Beryl Lipton, Muckrock, Apr. 12, 2017
For the last month, 64 federal government Freedom of Information Act agencies have been waging noble battle for the title of Most Responsive Agency 2017. It’s been four weeks of phone conversations, follow ups, and frustratingly close calls, and now we’re ready to announce the champion of this year’s match-up.
But first, a few things.
Read more here.