Court opinion issued May 7, 2018

Ibrahim v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- holding that: (1) agency improperly relied on section 222(f) of Immigration and Naturalization Act, in conjunction with Exemption 3, to withhold plaintiff's Resettlement Application; (2) agency properly withheld USCIS's  Refugee Application Assessment under Exemptions 5 and 7(E), except for page containing final decision, which may be redacted under Exemptions 6 and 7(C); (3) agency properly withheld portions of USCIS's chronology under Exemptions 7(C) and 7(E), though not under Exemption 5; and (4) agency must release United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees document and USCIS's official assessment of plaintiffs's "Request for Reconsideration," subject to redactions under Exemptions 6 and 7(C). 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: OGIS seeking Deputy Director; deadline May 7, 2018 [revised]

The Office of Government Information Services issued a vacancy announcement on May 1, 2018, for a Supervisory Government Information Specialist.  Per the announcement, the successful candidate "will function as a full assistant to the Director, participating in and supporting the Director's initiatives to develop, execute, and administer the unique Federal government-wide program in support of agencies' administration of the FOIA and providing dispute resolution and Ombuds services to requesters and agencies."

**Please note that only NARA employees are eligible to apply for this position.** 

The deadline to apply is Monday, May 7, 2018.

Court opinion issued May 3, 2018

Am. Oversight v. GSA. (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) agency failed to perform adequate search for records reflecting communications between GSA and  presidential transition team (2) agency failed to justify withholding records pursuant to Exemption 5 (attorney-client privilege)  or names of transition team members pursuant to Exemption 6.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: EPA's internal FOIA review draws scrutiny

EPA clamps down on document requests linked to Pruitt

‘This does look like the most burdensome review process that I’ve seen documented,’ one public records expert says.   

By Alex Guillan, Politico, May 6, 2018

Top aides to Scott Pruitt at the EPA are screening public records requests related to the embattled administrator, slowing the flow of information released under the Freedom of Information Act — at times beyond what the law allows.

Internal emails obtained by POLITICO show that Pruitt's political appointees reviewed documents collected for most or all FOIA requests regarding his activities, even as he’s drawn scrutiny for his use of first-class flights and undisclosed dealings with lobbyists.

While past administrations have given similar heads-ups to political aides for certain records requests, FOIA experts say this high-level vetting at EPA appears to have increased compared with the Obama era.

Read more here.  

[Comment:  High-level and burdensome vetting of FOIA requests indeed occured during the Obama era, notably at DHS and Treasury,   See https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/06/obama-administrations-newly-political-approach-foias-eliana-johnson/]

FOIA News: GSA mishandled FOIA for Trump-related records, court rules

Judge Sends GSA FOIA Staff Back to Work on Trump Hotel Docs

By Charles S. Clark, Gov't Exec., May 4, 2018

In the latest zig-zag in the legal battle over President Trump’s profiting from his lease of his Washington luxury hotel, a federal district judge on Thursday faulted the General Services Administration for inadequately responding to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Judge Beryl Howell, chief of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled in the case brought by the nonprofit transparency group American Oversight that GSA, though it had delivered thousands of emails from the Trump transition team, had not “adequately supported” its decisions to redact some documents and withhold some email attachments in the name of privacy.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued May 1, 2018

Greenpeace v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) agency performed reasonable search for records concerning facilities formerly classified as high risk due to their chemical holdings, and (2) agency properly withheld certain records pursuant to Exemption 7(F).   "While there are surely many hard cases under Exemption 7(F), the court stated, "this is not one of them. The information in question was compiled by DHS in order to keep our country safe from terrorist attacks. Disclosing it would reveal the location of facilities containing dangerous chemicals terrorists might target, as well as how the government has assessed the risks posed by those facilities—all information that terrorists might exploit."

Igoshev v. NSA (D. Md.) -- ruling that National Security Agency properly relied on Exemptions 1 and 3 in refusing to confirm or deny existence of records pertaining to ownership, use, and targets of satellites.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: In with the new, out with the old

The National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service,  a newly-launched temporary federal agency, issued an interim final rule today that govern its Freedom of Information Act procedures.  This interim final rule is effective on May 2, 2018. Written comments on the interim final rule should be received on or before June 1, 2018.

The Defense Nuclear Agency issued a final rule today that removes its supplemental FOIA regulations effective May 2, 2018.  This removal was prompted by DoD's promulgation of a one-level FOIA rule on February 6, 2018. 

Court opinion issued Apr. 30, 2018

DeFraia v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) agency performed adequate search for contracts pertaining to detainee interrogation program and that plaintiff was not entitled to records beyond scope agreed to by parties; and (2) plaintiff was not entitled to in camera review of records withheld under Exemptions 5 and 6, which court found were sufficiently justified by agency.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: Pentagon again seeks special FOIA exemption

DoD Seeks New FOIA Exemption for Fourth Time

By Steven Aftergood, Fed'n Am. Sci., May 1, 2018

For the fourth year in a row, the Department of Defense has asked Congress to legislate a new exemption from the Freedom of Information Act in the FY2019 national defense authorization act for certain unclassified military tactics, techniques and procedures.

Previous requests for such an exemption were rebuffed or ignored by Congress.

The Defense Department again justified its request by explaining that a 2011 US Supreme Court decision in Milner v. Department of the Navy had significantly narrowed its authority to withhold such information under FOIA.

Read more here.

FOIA News: The FBI Redacted the Names of DC Comic Book Characters to Protect Their Non-Existent Privacy

The FBI Redacted the Names of DC Comic Book Characters to Protect Their Non-Existent Privacy

By Dell Cameron, Gizmodo, Apr. 30, 2018

Superman can sleep soundly tonight. The FBI, fully aware of his secret identity, has decided to keep things under wraps, acknowledging the Kryptonian’s right to privacy ultimately outweighs the public’s need-to-know.

Seriously.

Proving the old FBI proverb, “when in doubt, cross it out,” still permeates the bureau’s hallowed halls, the agency decided to redact the names of reporters from The Daily Planet—the fictional newspaper of record for the City of Metropolis in the DC universe—in records disclosed in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.

Read more here.