Court opinions issued July 18-19, 2017

July 19, 2017

Smallwood v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- dismissing lawsuit because plaintiff did not submit the request and the requester (plaintiff's lawyer) failed to indicate that the request was made on behalf of a client generally or plaintiff specifically.  

July 18, 2017

Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. DEA (D.D.C.) -- finding that plaintiff was eligible and entitled to attorney's fees, but excluding all time spent on unsuccessful summary judgment briefing, reducing excessive time spent by three attorneys on certain tasks, ordering plaintiff to recalculate hourly rate based on updated U.S. Attorney's Office matrix, and reducing requested fee-on-fee award by 67 percent.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued July 17, 2017

McGuffin v. Soc. Sec. Admin. (E.D.N.C.) -- concluding that SSA properly invoked Exemption 6 to withhold names and personal productivity information of agency decision writers. 

Gawker Media v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- rejecting discovery request for: (1) affidavit from former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philippe Reines concerning methodology he employed to search his private email for government documents, and (2) sworn certification that Reines turned over all government-related records in his private email accounts..

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued July 13, 2017

Canning v.  DOJ (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) FBI properly relied upon Exemption 3 to withhold wiretap records, but that agency was required to release certain information that it had previously acknowledged officially; (2)  FBI was required to release certain names withheld under Exemption 7(C) and 7(D) because agency had previously acknowledged them officially; and (3) FBI failed to demonstrate the propriety of Exemption 7(D) to withhold certain information obtained from sources under implied assurance of confidentiality. 

Protect Democracy Project v. DOD (D.D.C.) -- ruling that plaintiff was entitled to expedited processing of its requests for records concerning President Trump's legal authority to order missile strikes against Syria, but declining to order defendants to produce records by any certain date. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

FOIA News: FCC declines to release analysis on cyber-attack

Senator blasts FCC for refusing to provide DDoS analysis

FCC is either too secretive or is unprepared for future attacks, senator says.

By Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, July 21, 2017

US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) criticized the Federal Communications Commission for failing to turn over its internal analysis of the DDoS attacks that hit the FCC's public comment system.

The FCC declined to provide its analysis of the attacks to Gizmodo, which had filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for a copy of all records related to the FCC analysis "that concluded a DDoS attack had taken place." The FCC declined the request, saying that its initial analysis on the day of the attack "did not result in written documentation.

Read more here.

FOIA News: FOIA workshop in D.C. on July 28, 2017

The Association of Alternative Media will be hosting a one-hour FOIA discussion on July 28, 2017, during its annual convention in Washington D.C.  Details are available here.  Registration for the convention is required.

FOIA News: FOIA tips at D.C. event on July 27, 2017

Join SPJ-DC and MuckRock in the nation’s capital to learn new FOIA tactics

FOIA expert Michael Ravnitzky shares new tactics to obtain useful records from agencies

By Michael Morisy, MuckRock, July 18, 2017

In the D.C. area and want to learn how to peek inside federal agencies using FOIA? Join the Society of Professional Journalists D.C. chapter and MuckRock for a fun, informative talk given by FOIA expert Michael Ravnitzky, followed by a few rounds of FOIA Karaoke.

The event is free and open to the public, and both experienced and starting FOIA requesters will take away new insights and specific ideas that help them request useful information about topics they care about.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Oral arguments held on OLC 's legal opinions

DOJ Says FOIA Suit For Legal Advice Is Too Broad

By Bryan Koenig, Law360, July 18, 2017

The U.S. Department of Justice urged a D.C. federal judge in oral arguments Tuesday to dismiss as too expansive and unspecified a suit accusing the Office of Legal Counsel of treating its advice as broadly exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

The Campaign for Accountability lawsuit seeking a check for all “controlling legal advice” fails, DOJ attorney Daniel Schwei said, in part because it doesn’t specify particular OLC opinions that have been improperly withheld, and the opinions should generally be treated as policy advice that merely informs government decisions, rather than directs it in working law that must be made public.

Read more here (registration required).

FOIA News: TIGTA Releases Report on IRS Record Management

Summary courtesy of Cause of Action Institute:

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (“TIGTA”) released an important report yesterday that detailed the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) inconsistent and inadequate records retention policies over recent years. The audit had been requested in March 2016 by the House Committee on Ways and Means.  TIGTA, the IRS’s watchdog, concluded that the agency had failed to “comply with certain Federal requirements that agencies must ensure that all records are retrievable and usable for as long as needed.”  In other words, TIGTA took the IRS to task for having ignored the requirements of the Federal Records Act (“FRA”) and the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”).

Read Cause of Action Institute's blog here.

Read the TIGTA report here.

FOIA News: CREW to Get Mar-A-Lago Visitor Records

CREW to Get Mar-A-Lago Visitor Records

Press Release, July 17, 2017

As part of ongoing litigation brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the National Security Archive (NSA) and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will turn over visitor logs for President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. CREW will publicly release the visitor logs upon receiving them by September 8th.

“The public deserves to know who is coming to meet with the president and his staff,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said. “We are glad that as a result of this case, this information will become public for meetings at his his personal residences—but it needs to be public for meetings at the White House as well.”

CREW, NSA and Knight sued for the release of visitor logs from the White House, Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower. DHS claims to have no records of visitors at Trump Tower. The lawsuit is ongoing for the White House.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Federal pensions might become subject to FOIA

Legislation Would Make Retired Federal Employee Pensions Public Information

By Ian Smith, FedSmith, July 15, 2017

Legislation has been introduced in the House to make the pension information of retired federal employees public information subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The Taxpayer Funded Pension Disclosure Act (H.R. 3200) was introduced in the House this week by Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

In an editorial in the Washington Examiner, DeSantis said that the cost of providing pensions to retired federal workers is over $100 billion, yet there is currently little transparency to the information.

Read more here.