FOIA News: NCPC Issues Technical Correction for FOIA Regulations

The National Capital Planning Commission yesterday published in the Federal Register a technical correction to its September 20th final rule for revised FOIA regulations.  These new regulations are effective October 20, 2017.

FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee Meeting on 10/19/17

FOIA Advisory Committee to Meet on October 19th

Nat'l Archives & Records Admin., The FOIA Ombudsman, Sept. 27, 2017

This Friday, September 29th, registration will open for the next meeting of the FOIA Advisory Committee in the McGowan Theater at the National Archives. The event is open to the public and can also be watched via livestream on the National Archives YouTube Channel.

Read more here.

FOIA News: 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines Available

Agency 2008 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines Now Available

Dep't of Justice, Office of Info. Pol'y, Sept. 27, 2017

The FOIA requires agency Chief FOIA Officers to report to the Attorney General on their performance in implementing the law.  Accordingly, since 2009, the Department of Justice has directed agency Chief FOIA Officers to “review all aspects of their agencies’ FOIA administration” and to report annually to the Department of Justice on the efforts undertaken “to improve FOIA operations and facilitate information disclosure at their agencies.”  Every year, OIP provides specific guidance to agencies on the content and timing of agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports and today we have issued the guidelines for agency 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Reports.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Sept. 25, 2017

Judicial Watch v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- holding that government properly relied on Local Civil Rule 84 to withhold settlement-related documents exchanged between congressional committee and DOJ relating to "Fast and Furious" program.

Lockett v. Wray (D.D.C.) -- finding that local law enforcement agency, not FBI, maintained records of plaintiff's DNA profile.   

Urban Air Initiative. v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- determining that agency failed to adequately search for records concerning gasoline fuel study, but that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 4, 5, and 6.  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Sept. 21 & Sept. 22, 2017

Sept. 22, 2017

Cable News Network v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- ruling that plaintiff's request for records "relating in any way" to memos issued by former FBI Director James Comey was not reasonably described.   

Sept. 21, 2017

Taylor Energy v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior (D.D.C.) -- concluding that: (1) Department performed reasonable search for records underlying statements it issued about 2004 incident at plaintiff's oil platform in Gulf of Mexico; (2) Department properly relied upon deliberative process and attorney-client privileges to withhold five disputed documents.

MacLeod v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) DHS demonstrated that it did not maintain records concerning plaintiff's application for "diplomatic status" card; (2) plaintiff failed to appeal CIA's Glomar response regarding himself, and his request concerning "Russia" and the "Cold War" was not reasonably described; and (3) National Security Administration and the General Services Administration demonstrated that it never received requests from plaintiff.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: A new requester's (long) read on the FOIA process

My Journey to the Heart of the FOIA Request

Fifty years ago, the Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to government secrets — all you had to do was ask.  How a simple request became a bureaucratic nightmare.

By Spenser Mestel, Longread, Sept. 2017

* * * *

The executive branch currently employs over 4,000 full-time employees to receive, process, and fulfill FOIA requests. To better understand the costs involved in maintaining such a massive bureaucracy, I decided a few months ago to submit requests for information about spending on FOIA fulfillment to the 14 offices of the most requested department: the Department of Homeland Security, which in 2016 received 325,780 FOIA requests. Expecting a maze of arcane terms, legal citations, and byzantine postal requirements, I gave myself a few hours. When I visited FOIA.gov, though, I found an FAQ section complete with videos, a primer on how to file a request, and a full directory of government agencies. On the directory page, when I clicked the logo for the DHS, a drop-down menu appeared giving the names of its component offices, and I chose the first one listed, the Headquarters and Privacy Office. Up popped the corresponding FOIA officer’s name, mailing address, phone and fax numbers, and email address, which I copied into Gmail. Then I was stuck.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 20, 2017

Lindsey v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- denying without prejudice agency's Glomar response concerning request for records of interaction between government and Imad Hage, because FBI interpreted request too narrowly, Mr. Hage publicly acknowledged (to some degree) his contacts with U.S. officials, and agency failed to acknowledge any public interest in subject matter of request.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: FOIA lawsuits a threat to our democracy, opines watchdog

Op-Ed: FOIA lawsuits a threat to our democracy, insult to our time

Chris Krug, Watchdog.org, Sept. 21, 2017

Let’s talk about time, if only for a moment so as not to waste too much of yours.

More precious than gold, more fleeting than beauty, nobody who’s living a life worth living has an excess of time. Whether it is God, family, work or community, we’re allocating our time to things that further the American way.

So I don’t flinch when I read stories about low attendance – or no attendance – at community board meetings, legislative hearings or any other kind of governmental activities that legacy media outlets rag on the public for not showing up to watch it.

We the people, well, we’ve got other things going on. We simply do not have the hours in a day to be present to watch government work (or not work). We trust that it is functioning, but verification is a must.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Sept. 19, 2017

Hall v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that; (1) DEA, ATF, and Criminal Division performed reasonable searches for records concerning plaintiff; (2) plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to request to Bureau of Prisons; and (3) Executive Office for United States Attorneys failed to indicate how agency responded to request re-directed to it from Criminal Division.

Murray v. Shulkin (D.D.C.) -- dismissing FOIA and Privacy Act case because: (1) Department of Veterans Affairs fully disclosed plaintiff's claim file; and (2) plaintiff failed to identify documents that agency allegedly falsified, and plaintiff failed to request amendment of such document prior to bringing lawsuit.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Sept. 18, 2017

Bloche v. DOD (D.D.C.) -- finding that Air Force properly relied on Exemption 5 to withhold certain (but not all) disputed records pertaining to federal government's use of interrogation tactics designed and implemented by medical professionals.

Wilson v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- concluding that Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives performed reasonable search for certain records pertaining to plaintiff's criminal case.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.