FOIA News: Feds Hit With FOIA Suit For Tribal Leadership Dispute Docs

Feds Hit With FOIA Suit For Tribal Leadership Dispute Docs

By Adam Lidgett, Law360, Dec. 20, 2017

Seeking information regarding a Timbisha Shoshone Tribe leadership row, the Indian Law Resource Center filed a lawsuit Tuesday urging a D.C. federal judge to force the federal government to turn over records that it said were either improperly kept from the organization or redacted. 

The Freedom of Information Act suit was lobbed against the Office of Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Pacific Regional Office of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of the Solicitor of the DOI.

Read more here (subscription required).

FOIA News: Next FOIA Advisory Committee Meeting Scheduled for 1/16/18

Mark Your Calendars for the January 16, 2018 FOIA Advisory Committee Meeting

Nat'l Archives & Records Admin., The FOIA Ombudsman, Dec. 20, 2017

Registration is now open for the January 16, 2018 meeting of the FOIA Advisory Committee! The meeting is scheduled to run from 10 am to 1 pm in the William G. McGowan Theater.

As we have shared with you all before, the FOIA Advisory Committee has been hard at work for more than a year examining some of the major challenges to FOIA and developing recommendations to the Archivist to improve the law’s administration. During the January 16thmeeting, we expect the Committee to further discuss, refine and vote on the draft recommendations developed by its three subcommittees – Proactive Disclosure, Efficiencies and Resources, and Searches.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Dec. 18, 2017

Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. Office of the Dir. of Nat'l Intelligence (D.D.C.) -- ruling that agency properly relied on Exemptions 1 and 3 (National Security Act of 1947) to withhold, in its entirety, an assessment of U.S. Intelligence Community ("IC") compiled by agency regarding Russia's attempts to influence 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: DOJ-OIP Announces Upcoming Training Dates for Federal Employees

OIP Announces Upcoming Training Dates

Dep't of Justice, Office of Info. Pol'y, Dec. 18, 2017

As part of its responsibility to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA, OIP offers a number of training opportunities throughout the year for agency FOIA professionals and individuals with FOIA responsibilities.  These courses have been designed to offer training opportunities for personnel from all stages of the FOIA workforce, from new hires, to experienced FOIA professionals and FOIA managers. 

We are pleased to announce the training courses and dates for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2018, which are also available on OIP’s new Eventbrite page(link is external). 

• FOIA for Attorneys and Access Professionals
  January 16-17, 2018
  April 24-25, 2018
  June 26-27, 2018
  July 24-25, 2018
• Advanced FOIA Seminar
  February 20, 2018
  May 9, 2018
• Continuing FOIA Education
  April 26, 2018
  July 26, 2018
• Introduction to the FOIA
  May 29, 2018
• FOIA Litigation Seminar
  June 28, 2018

Read more here.

FOIA News: WaPo on the FOIA - "How to Be a Journalist"

Everything you need to know about FOIA: How to be a journalist

Wash. Post, Dec. 14, 2017

The second episode of “How to be a journalist” looks at the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA. Libby Casey talks to investigative reporter Kimbriell Kelly and database editor Steven Rich about how they use open records laws to get information from the government.

View the video here.

FOIA News: NTSB Proposed Revisions to FOIA Regulations

The National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB") published an interim final rule revising the agency's FOIA regulations in the December 12, 2017 issue of the Federal Register.  These proposed changes are intended to implement the Open Government Act of 2007, the Open FOIA Act of 2009, and the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.  The NTSB is accepting written comments on the interim final rule until February 12, 2018.

FOIA News: Did the FBI's Use of (b)(7)(E) Suggest It Considered Prosecuting FOIA Requesters?

It Looks Like The FBI Thought About Prosecuting FOIA Requesters After Influx of Automated Requests

Tim Cushing, TechDirt, Dec. 15, 2017

Emma Best of MuckRock has unearthed some disturbing details in an FBI response to an FOIA request: apparently the agency considered -- however briefly -- the investigation and prosecution of people filing requests.

The nature of the requests may shed some light on the FBI's thought process because the heavily-redacted email included in the response certainly doesn't. Each year, the FBI updates its Dead List-- the names of people the FBI has files on who have passed away. Death increases the chances of released files because this major life event tends to terminate investigations.

The FBI claims it can't find its updated Dead List. This seems odd, if not downright unbelievable, but the DOJ has backed the FBI's claim and FOIA requests for the latest copy are being rejected. No problem, said MuckRock. It went to work with an older version of the list which included 7,000 names.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Dec. 15, 2017

Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press v. FBI (D.C. Cir.) --  reversing and remanding district court's decision that FBI had conducting adequate search for records concerning its impersonation of media during law enforcement investigations.  In reaching its ruling, the Circuit found that the government failed to sufficiently describe which agency files were searched and how, failed to demonstrate that certain records would not likely be maintained outside of one office it searched, and failed to follow one clear lead mentioned in responsive records.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Dec. 14, 2017

Frank LLP v. CFPB (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) Bureau properly invoked Exemption 7(E) to withhold certain records concerning enforcement action against debt collector; (2) Bureau properly withheld attorney interview notes prepared during active investigation into potential target pursuant to Exemption 5 (attorney work-product); (3) plaintiff failed to exhaust administrative remedies with respect to second request for failure to pay fees; (4) Bureau has improper practice of treating records submitted in response to Civil Investigative Demands ("CIDs") as "voluntarily" submitted for  purposes of Exemption 4; (5) Bureau properly treats entities that buy and collect on debts as "financial institutions" for purposes of Exemption 8. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Dec. 13, 2017

Pickard v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (9th Cir.) (unpublished opinion) -- ruling that: (1) district court properly held that Exemption 7(D) protected name and information provided by source despite source's testimony at public trail; and (2) district court abused its discretion by considering plaintiff's remaining claims "withdrawn," because even though plaintiff had not sought summary judgment on those claims, he had opposed agency's summary judgment motion. 

Scudder v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- concluding that plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that CIA has policy or practice of categorically refusing to produce responsive documents electronically.

Goldner v. SSA (D. Md.) -- finding that: (1) agency reasonably searched for names and contact information of claimant representatives by utilizing its "Modernized Claims System" (MCS) database; and (2) although plaintiff sought only business contact information, agency properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold disputed addresses and telephone numbers because agency was unable to distinguish personal and business information in MCS database. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.